House for family recreation

Originally, a building likely constructed during the First Republic stood on the site. It was a standard family house with a hip roof, typical of urban development in lower altitude areas, seeming almost forgotten in the local environment. Over the years, it was clumsily expanded as a mountain-style building. The investor was aware that any reconstruction of the original building would greatly limit new solutions, and decisively decided to demolish the original building and construct a completely new house. The designed object is intended for recreation for family and friends (in the distant future, permanent use is not excluded). On the ground floor of the main part of the house, there is essentially a housing unit for the owner, while the upper floor features three separate accommodation rooms with their own hygienic facilities and a shared kitchenette. In the attic, a large social space with a bar and billiards is proposed, providing a panoramic view of the entire valley. The auxiliary building includes a garage, space for bicycles and skis, a sauna with accessories, and a wood shelter. The house was designed to be compact, closed, and rustic. Although the object refers in a certain way to the architecture of the original buildings in the Jizera Mountains, it is intentionally not a shape imitation of local chalets. It is deliberately designed to be distinct and unique in its environment, even if it does not dominate the material or size of the surroundings.
The object consists of two perpendicular simple elongated masses with gabled roofs. Both masses are only connected by a light glass canopy. A covered passage is left between the masses, connecting the entrance areas with the intimate space behind the house. This then transitions into open, undeveloped Jizera mountain meadows. The main mass of the house has fully stone facades with sharply cut window openings. Although the house appears compact and closed, it simultaneously offers unique views of the surroundings (corner window in the living area on the ground floor, wide dormer in the attic). Sturdy wooden blinds move on the stone facades, which co-create the visual variability of the facades, and the house responds with its expression to the presence of the owner. The inspiration for the design of the "stone" house came from original objects in the Jizera Mountains – such as the former glassworks in Jizerka, the original windmill in Horní Polubný, or a number of typical farm buildings. The material used (local, so-called Liberec granite from the Ruprechtice quarry) and the method of masonry were of paramount importance for the final appearance of the house – during construction, we aimed to be as close as possible to historical brick structures.
The ground-floor auxiliary building has all facades clad in wood (as a contrast to the "stone" main mass). For the cladding of the facades and the blinds on the main object, weather-resistant wood was used – red cedar. The wood is left in its natural state without coatings for natural aging. The vertical structures of the house are constructed from ceramic blocks. The facades are treated as a sandwich – thermal insulation (12 cm thick polystyrene) is added to the load-bearing structure and a stone facing about 17 cm thick is anchored to the load-bearing wall using steel anchors. In the auxiliary building, the facade facing consists of wooden cladding made of vertical boards on a wooden frame (both red cedar) with stainless steel fasteners. The ceilings are monolithic reinforced concrete. The roof has a wooden truss with an embedded steel frame (to free up space in the attic). The covering is made of pre-weathered titanium-zinc sheet metal. The roof eaves are visually concealed and equipped with electric heating. The house is heated by a heat pump, has its own well, and is connected to the local sewage system.