• Address:

    Ronalda Reagana 3/181, Prague 6, Czech Republic

  • Client:

    US Government

  • Description of the work:

    Wintergarden Door Restoration

  • Realization:

    2016–2017

The Otto Petschka Villa, which houses the residence of the US Ambassador to Prague, is an important monument of early 20th century architecture. This exceptional villa was built in 1924-1928 to a design by the architect Max Spielmann in the French Classicist style. The restoration of the glass lattice wall of the residence was carried out in 2016-2017.

The external glazed lattice wall of the winter garden hall dominates the south-east elevation open to the garden. The outer and inner walls of the ‘garden hall’ are glazed lattice walls with the possibility to be slid down to a basement. This exceptional technical solution was used for the first time in Bohemia.

The outer steel grilles were dismantled during the works for the first time since they were installed. The external steel structures of the door frames were treated on site. After transport to the restoration studio, the bronze plant decorative elements were removed from the steel grilles. In the workshop years of varnish layers were removed from the grilles to bare metal, the surface was treated against corrosion and refinished with new paint. The originally gilded bronze plant decorative elements were stripped of non-original paint, also cleaned down to bare metal, treated and gilded with gold leaf. Before being transported to the site, the gilded elements were reinstalled on the restored grilles.

The inner part of the wall, consisting of the all-gilded grille, was treated on site, without dismantling. The gilded surface of the grilles was completely cleaned, the damage retouched and fixed. The gilding of the central part of the wall, a passage double door with a lunette in the lintel, was so damaged by the use of the door that it had to be re-gilded. The damaged gilding with the underlying coatings was removed, the surface treated and completely re-gilded with gold leaf (24 carat).
The technical part of the sliding door mechanics was not subject to restoration