Architect Martin Čeněk wanted to integrate the building on the slope inconspicuously into the landscape and optimize it energetically
Srbín is a small village about 30 km from the centre of Prague. The proximity to the capital of the Czech Republic has led to an extreme demand for building plots and a lot of settlement construction in the area. A house for a lawyer family of 2 adults and 2 children, which stands out from the standard architecture, is the subject of our contribution. The designer was young architect Martin Čeněk, who wrote his doctoral thesis on sustainable building and teaches on the same topic at the Technical University of Prague.
One aspect of his concept was to integrate the house into the landscape. The outer walls are made of quarry stone walls. Such facades are also available as veneer, i.e. prefabricated elements made of thin stone strips. This masonry, however, is 5-7 cm thick, which serves as thermal insulation and storage.
As Martin Čeněk wrote us, there are several companies in the area that can do this kind of masonry: „They have a lot of work.“
A special design effect is created by the fact that the same walls are also present inside the house. Stone can also be found around the pond in the garden and in the supports on the slope. It is material from the surrounding area. The material from the building pit itself was not suitable.
The lower floor of the house is the public part. The large windows open the building to the garden and let the sun penetrate deep into the building in winter. In summer, when the sun is higher, the heat radiation stays outside. Energy saving is also the fact that the ground floor is integrated into the slope.
The part above is the private and smaller part. Here a large terrace offers a view over the countryside. A wide staircase inside the house connects the two floors.
The interior is designed with rectangular shapes. This could be guessed from the outside, considering the windows and the balcony balustrades. A striking feature is a stove that connects the two levels on the ground floor (entrance zone and kitchen respectively) and can be fired with wood from both sides.
Access and entry are from the garden.
Photos: Martin Čeněk
(16.03.2020, USA: 03.16.2020)
