Alfa Palace

The Functionalist Alfa Palace comprises an arcade with an inner gallery and upper floors containing flats; it connects Jánská and Poštovská streets with náměstí Svobody. The complex was designed by the prominent Brno architect Bohuslav Fuchs and is both an important architectural landmark and a key element of the urban scene. 

The multifunctional Alfa Palace complex was erected by the builder František Hrdina on the site of earlier Baroque palaces of the Mitrovský and von Freyenfels families on today's Poštovská street. The architectural design was entrusted to Fuchs, who worked together on the plans with the Technical Division of Hrdina’s firm, which, after minor adjustments, adopted Fuchs’s design as its own. The building was constructed in several phases between 1930 and 1937. Part of the complex was made accessible as early as February 1932, when the Alfa Cinema, located in the basement of the building, held its inaugural screening – the popular film comedy Der Weiße Rausch (White Intoxication)

At the time, the complex was a groundbreaking solution to the housing problem, providing around 180 residential units with full amenities and cultural facilities, easy access to services and shops, and even options for quick dining within the building.

The eleven-story structure consists of four independent buildings connected by a two-floor arcade. The division of the smoothly flowing façade by horizontal bands is more distinct than the vertical division by individual construction units. The buildings do not align with the neighbouring buildings' main cornices but are one-and-a-half floors higher. The upper floors of the buildings recede in terraces, reducing the impression of the overall height and making the building’s elevation more harmonious. The material chosen for the façades of the upper terraces was lime-cement plaster dyed with casein. The skeleton of the building, including the foundation slab, columns, beams, the basement's supporting walls, and all load-bearing structures, is made of reinforced concrete, as are the ceilings. These ceilings are partially visible in frames, mostly flat, and either designed with a rabitz mesh or reed system. Structurally, each of the four building units has its own skeleton made of hollow brick walls. The arcade area, spanning twofloors and a mezzanine, contains retail, office, and service spaces. The formal unity of the architectural elements, such as chrome cladding, the shape of shop windows and doors, original frames for store signs, marble cladding, and the continuous layout of the shop windows, creates a unified impression throughout the arcade.

Today, Alfa is the proud home of HaDivadlo, one of Brno’s most prominent experimental theatres. The theatre occupies the original cinema space, which operated until 2003. The complex also houses the Metro Music Bar, a café, and a variety of other interesting shops and venues.