Standing on the banks of the Chrudimka River, the Automatic Mills of the city of Pardubice, a work of the Czech architect Josef Gočár, were built in 1909. A grain silo was added in 1924. The mills ran uninterruptedly for over a century, until 2013, and a year later the industrial complex was put on the Czech Republic’s list of national cultural monuments. Since 2016 it has undergone transformation into a cultural center. The renovated premises comprise several buildings and institutions: the regional Gočár Gallery, the city gallery for contemporary art GAMPA, the Sféra central workshops for schools,, the Pardubice Infocenter, and the Silo.

The Prokš Přikryl architekti was commissioned for the recent conversion of the Silo to include a multipurpose hall for events like theater performances, conferences, and concerts, and also exhibition galleries and a rooftop bar with views of the city. The ground floor was transformed into an indoor public space. There had in the past been an opening in the brick plinth here, and it is now back in place.

Colors and brickwork are limited to the facades. The interior preserves the original surfaces and the scars left by eliminated partitions. The century-old concrete presented no defects, so repairs were not necessary, but the horizontal structures were replaced. Because of the level of underground waters, a white tank of exposed concrete was built.