Architect Karel Kotas was born in Olomučany near Blansko on 20 January 1894. In 1917-18 he studied at the Academy in Vienna in Leopold Bauer's studio and then at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in Jan Kotěra's studio in 1919-21. He worked first as a public servant in Brno (1922-25), then he and his family moved to Moravská Ostrava, where he was employed at the building authority. In Ostrava he designed the buildings of Moravskoostravská Savings Bank, the Brouk and Babka Department Store and the Reunione Adriatice di Sicurtà Insurance Company. After World War II he became a shareholder and later the chief designer and technical manager of Bučina, a company based in Zvolen. In 1951 he started working at Pacel (later renamed Dřevoprojekt), a state company based in Štětí. Karel Kotas died in Prague on 24 April 1973.