Senior Home Hagibor

In the initial analysis of the study for the selection procedure, we identified several problem areas that were crucial for the establishment of the building for the given purpose at the specified location:

- The issue of preserving the existing structure
- The way to utilize the existing structure in a new context with an additional new building.

Regarding the issue of preserving the existing structure, it can be stated that it is an architecturally successful piece of work in a considerably neglected state, which is, however, a kind of memory of the place of the Jewish community in Prague, and it would be barbaric in a time when old crafts are dying out (e.g., beautiful trusses or vaulted entrances) to allow demolition for the purpose of gaining space for entirely new construction.
Given that we answered the first question in favor of preservation, the next question followed about the purpose of this building in a new context. In our opinion, which we substantiated with a noise study, it is impossible to use the acquired existing - in a way unsuitable spaces again for housing (the structural limitations of load-bearing walls, high clear heights) primarily for elderly residents due to the completely unsuitable positioning towards the south against the highly noise-exposed Vinohradská street (approximately 27,000 vehicles and 606 trams pass through the street between 6 AM and 10 PM, of which 500 are buses) and to rely on auxiliary means for soundproofing such as protective walls or specially modified windows, considering the southern orientation of the house complemented by air conditioning with forced air exchange. It would be an obvious nonsense, which could have been avoided by placing residential spaces behind the building into the attached new structure. The next question was the use of this existing reconstructed building. Utilizing the building as a community center with a program of economic, technical, social, and club spaces, a day center, along with administrative spaces, was the right purpose for this house, located at the interface between private spaces - housing with a garden, semi-public spaces - a park in front, and public spaces - a city street.

After analyzing the previous issues with the outcome to preserve the building, utilize it for a community center while relocating housing to the garden, we proceed to another key decision on how to conceptualize the building in this space. For the concept of the development and its relationship to the surroundings, several aspects are important:

…Urbanistic and architectural
…Preservation of a garden of acceptable size and its intimacy
…Sunlight for residential parts and the garden
…Connection with the main building
…Plan layout of the building from sociological perspectives
…Plan layout of the building in terms of variability between the number of rooms in the sleeping part and in the part… of the guest house.
…Last but not least, the safety of the building

It is clear that the above considerations overlap, so the discussion will not be divided further according to them. From the urbanistic and architectural concept standpoint, it could be vulgarly stated that after the permission to build the Don Giovanni hotel, everything is allowed in the given space, and it was very difficult to ascertain what corresponds to the scale and expression of the place. Our goal, however, was not merely to propose something decent that would not disturb its surroundings, but something that would, despite the unfriendliness of the environment, become a home for sixty elderly people, who moreover belong to the Jewish community, having numerous customs, particularly during holidays, for which we wanted to create a safe, quiet environment in the middle of the city... What creative motives for the architect arise from the genius loci?

The site is at a very busy urban street, which, along with an intersection, a metro station, and bus stops, is a source of noise and emissions. This urban street is no longer a place of a lively urban street with vibrant ground floor spaces in this part, but merely an overloaded corridor for the movement of residents. Therefore, it cannot be said that it is a place of social contacts with the public, which we have always desired and strived for when designing similar facilities - places not on the "edge" of the city, but in its center, best on a square. However, it has the advantage of perfect transport connections by metro, which guarantees that contacts among community members will not be interrupted. Simply something for something.

So how to conceive the new building in the garden part of the premises, which we designated for housing both in the guest house and for accommodating more or less immobile patients, or patients in a closed department? For housing and the garden, it is primarily a top priority to protect them from noise from the surrounding communications. This can be achieved both by soundproofing walls on the property boundary (a very "solid" concrete wall already stands on its western side -), and by protecting the house from noise itself, that is, a barrier house turned towards the loud sides of operations, those for whom noise does not matter - mainly corridors or auxiliary operations such as storages, bathrooms, etc. We chose this option and developed such a barrier house along the edge of the property on the east, south, and west with the necessary distance of the eastern and western wings from the old building so that all rooms would have the required sunlight, connecting it with the old building through glass necks. The placement of the building mass at the edges of the property allows for preserving the most quality part of the garden - namely its center to create a large garden atrium, a completely private space, to which all rooms are directed. The external appearance of the walls of the corridors surrounding the building could have been composed differently, but we considered triangular windows and openings at the wall joints to be artistically significant - suitable for further development as a geometric ornament, which, together with plant ornaments that flow through the building inside as prints on glass surfaces will be close to the ornamental conception of certain Jewish buildings... It was important to create external and internal surfaces with varying degrees of privacy and a completely separated internal space - the internal garden, which serves as a suitable environment for social contacts. For communication with the external world, views from corridors and communal areas oriented outwards to the streets and semi-public space - the park in front of the old building, as well as contacts outside the premises, will suffice.

The internal garden and the orientation of the rooms inward together with the external expression of the building also have a reason rooted in increasing the safety of the building, about which representatives of the community spoke when addressing the need to secure the only entry point with control to prevent unauthorized persons from entering the building. The shape of the building and its spatial solution minimizes the consequences of possible rowdy excesses at a time when anti-Semitism has not yet become a thing of the past.

We consider the shape of the corridors in the new building to be important - their looseness with the connection of rooms from one side, with views from the corridors and social nooks out into the streets, which not only eliminates the feeling of enclosure but also any potential feeling of a hospital environment. Unfortunately, we cannot present these layouts for known reasons, so perhaps the images from the interior capture this composition. The face of the internal atrium is diametrically different from the external appearance of the building. Here, there is a grid of balconies supported by wooden laminated columns, intended for vine to grow over. After all, nearby is a street called Na vinici, so it has historical justification. The center is crossed by a functional stream, which is the foundation for creating minor garden architecture - transition bridges. A completely different world is thus created next to Vinohradská street and I consider our task to be fulfilled.