Family House with the Design Office of builder Josef Fňouk and architect Oldřich Liska

The construction and architectural firm of Josef Fňouk and Oldřich Liska was established in February 1910. Architect Liska designed projects and builder Fňouk supervised their construction and sometimes made custom changes to the original plans by Liska. Between 1910 and 1914, the partners completed several buildings in Hradec Králové and the surrounding area (e.g. the local evangelical church, the tenement house for the Cooperative for the Construction of Houses for Private Office Workers in the Czech Kingdom, etc.). Their projects included three neighbouring houses built on the site of the former fortress on the corner of Albertova, Vrchlického and Čechova Streets.

Construction on the building sites began with a project for Marie Sálová in 1912; a year later, the group of objects was completed with a family house which also served as the seat of the builder Josef Fňouk and architect Oldřich Liska’s firm. The two-storey villa with a hipped roof fit into the artistic concept of the architect’s early work. It was built between May and 16 December 1913 and designed as a representative building, so, unlike the neighbouring projects for Marie Sálová and Mr and Mrs Hypius, it was significantly decorated. On the upper floor, architect Liska used neoclassical motifs (fluted half-pilasters framing the windows, a robust crown cornice) and decorative plant reliefs in the spirit of the late German Art Nouveau below the windows on the corner and above the main entrance. On the eastern façade, there was an avant-corps and a balcony. The western façade facing the garden was extended with another balcony.

The interior was divided into two residential units. The ground floor entrance from Albertova Street led to the antechamber with the main staircase. While the western part of the house included the kitchen with a bathroom, the eastern part was divided by a subtle partition into a bedroom and a dining room. This solution can be seen as a precursor of the greenhouse wall that divided the living room and dining room in Liska’s villa in Střelecká Street built in 1932. The first floor was divided in the same way.

The project also included the ground-floor building in the yard with a laundry; originally, it was supposed to serve as an office building of the above-mentioned construction and architectural firm. Given that the building was not approved until the end of 1913 and the partners broke up in 1914, the question is whether the firm did any business. One of the reasons for the possible break-up were the ambitions of the partners. Oldřich Liska passed the state exams as a builder in 1912, so he no longer needed one. Josef Fňouk designed more and more projects, and after Czechoslovakia was established, he became a successful architect (he designed Novák's garages, the house with the glass tower, etc.). We can only assume that Liska lived in this house until his own villa in Švehlova Street was built between 1922 and 1923.

The house has undergone some changes, including the replacement of most of the original windows with plastic ones, the replacement of the roofing, and the placement of roof lights. Recent changes have included the expansion of the utility object in the courtyard. The building is currently still used for residential purposes.  

MB