The early Baroque Piarist College is one of the only buildings in the complex of Piarist buildings on the Chateau Hill that has retained its relatively authentic 1643 appearance. After the arrest of its last rector František Anbrož Stříteský in the mid-1950s and the subsequent dissolution of male religious orders in 1950, the building served as a college for female students of the local Teacher Training College.
The badly neglected building, utilized by the Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice since 2003, was finally subjected to reconstruction within a design programme, Revitalization of the Chateau Hill, between 2011 and 2015. The complex was sensitively revitalized and extended with the addition of an annex at the corner of Jiráskova and Zámecká Streets according to a design project by the Brno Architektonická kancelář Burian – Křivinka. It is designed to be used for educational purposes, as a college for up to twenty-six students, but also for ceremonial events held by the town council. The instructions in the assignment recommended mutual interaction between the college and the neighbouring Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross (01-8a). For this reason, the running of the school was separated from public activities.
The new architectonic elements are inconspicuous, without strict “didactic contrast between the old and the new”, and are carried out in traditional materials, above all in wood (e.g. staircase, hygiene facilities). The renovation of the interiors was carried out by restorers from the University of Pardubice who, together with students, preserved or restored not just the wall paintings in the classrooms but also those in the unique, so-called Purgatory Chapel linking the ambit with the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross.
As was the case during the revitalization of the building of the Museum (01-9), the design project for the corner annex had to be reworked after archaeological remains were found there (remains of the medieval and modern-age settlement of the so-called Kostkovo Town), which halted construction work for almost a year. In the final design, the two-storey building with a small pavilion in the attic was partially set below ground level and access was gained via several concrete landings with metal steps set in, but also via a barrier-free ramp. The building corresponds with the original building outline and matches the height of the surrounding cornices. Thus, in a restrained fashion, it complements the important urban space before the chateau with its modern architecture. The cube of the annex, with its facade of exposed brickwork and expansively glazed areas with smaller inset window frames, faces out onto the street, giving the modern Minimalist facade the rhythm of a more traditional building. The first – partially set in – floor contains the new Town Auditorium, intended for weddings and other cultural and educational events. A statue entitled Venuše v linii lásky (Venus in the Line of Love) by Arnold Bartůněk decorates its interior. The second floor is reserved for the Faculty Library which, thanks to the aforementioned expansive glazed area, offers a unique, uninterrupted view of the Renaissance chateau opposite. Furthermore, the architects made the historical corridor between the new annex and the Baroque college accessible, thus linking the space before the chateau with the Monastery Gardens (01-VP11).