#baťa

A wide view shows the tall, glass-fronted Centrum building standing in a city square, with CENTRUM in bold red letters on its roof. Pedestrians walk along the paved street in the foreground, flanked by buildings with tan and dark walls under a partly cloudy blue sky.

A modern, grid-like glass office building stands under a bright blue sky, topped with a large red sign reading CENTRUM. The ground floor features a Lidl supermarket entrance, whilst the reflective glass facade mirrors the surrounding city buildings and clouds.

Built in 1930-31 as a building for the shoe manufacturer Baťa — I’ve written about their Centrální sklad obuvi in Zlín before. It was intended to be the first skyscraper in Europe, at 28 floors. Ultimately, construction was stopped at only 8 floors, due to issues with the subsoil and building foundations, and likely the controversial nature of the project as well, as the site was within the Brno Urban Conservation Area. Ah, well, perhaps they should’ve tried building it in the Northern Quarter instead.

In the 1960s, the building was remodelled, losing its’ trademark black and white striped look with a new all-glass facade.

Further reading:

Centrum Department Store (Obchodní dům Centrum) – Go To Brno
Exhibition TRADE PALACE CENTRE – Archiweb – including a historical photo showing the building as originally built.
OD Center – Archiweb – including a satirical cartoon from the left-leaning magazine Index.

A large industrial brick building with many windows stands near two tall chimneys. Car parks and cars surround it. Green hills, trees, and scattered houses fill the background under a clear sky. — Photo credit: Herbert Frank (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

In today’s Wikipedia rabbit hole, I’m looking at the Centrální sklad obuvi in Zlín, Czechia. Slender-framed windows, external fire escapes, and its use as an innovative logistics hub piqued my interest.

Designed by architect Vladimír Kubečka and built between 1949 and 1955, it was the first attempt in the former Czechoslovakia to build a modern warehousing facility.

It is part of a larger complex of factory buildings (it’s colloquially called building number 34, the larger building in the photo above, with number 33 to the left of it) in the industrial city of Zlín.

Late last week, a fire broke out in the warehouse, leading to its partial collapse but no injuries or loss of life. The remains of the building are unlikely to be saved and are awaiting demolition.

It reminded me of warehouses of mail-order stores in central Manchester, such as Great Universal Stores (which at one point used to operate the credit agency Experian, if that qualifies as a fun fact) and others. These are now primarily converted to modern offices or housing.

Centrum department store, Brno, Czechia, 2026

Featured: Centrální sklad obuvi, Zlín, Czechia