Historical structures - inspiration from concepts through details to forms

The paper presents examples taken from the authors' practice and approaches historical structures from various points of view. Consideration of restoration aspects of historical (medieval) timber structures taking into account historical carpentry with its intrinsic capacity to pass over centuries technology information together with the structural quality, sustainability and appearance creates the first part. The second part is focused on one elegant spa colonnade structure composed of steel, timber and masonry which features several innovative solutions. This object from the end of the nineteenth century exhibits very elegant appearance combining exposition of complex structural elements and decorative cladding made of cast iron and moulded zinc sheets. The structure has at the same time extraordinary low cost parameters. lts specific restoration demands and materialization is presented including structural design approach and restoration technology.