Community Center Opatovice

In the small Central Bohemian village of Opatovice, only about a hundred local residents live. To provide this community with a place for gatherings and cultural and social events for both children and adults, the village purchased an old cottage above the Mill Pond.

Wishing to convert the house into a community center, the mayor turned to our office in 2016. We took advantage of the empty house before renovation and the summer weather for a short-term relocation of the office to Opatovice. Thus, a study for the reconstruction and use of municipal buildings was created directly in the village, which we presented and discussed with the residents right in the pub.

The house transformed into a community center with a club room and a dance hall, which the locals missed. The renovation preserves the most valuable parts of the cottage – the living room and the arched rooms in the middle part of the house. We returned the historical dimensions of the openings and the bead windows in this section. The original doors were repaired. The living room with a wooden floor and a stove can serve as a small club room for children's workshops and a computer classroom for seniors. The kitchen is once again serving its purpose – equipped with modern appliances and the original tiled stove on legs. New floors made of sintered tiles complement the old ones. The interior is furnished with refurbished furniture from the original owners.
The dilapidated stable and barn gave way to a new hall, open to the roof structure. The multipurpose room can be equipped with a mobile bar with a tap, a stage, or a projector with sound system. The dance floor is made of wooden industrial mosaic, with cladding made of translucent plywood. The communal space is connected by large windows to the entrance courtyard in the front and to the orchard above the cottage. The windows are protected by sliding wooden shutters of a size corresponding to the former barn doors. The new and old parts of the house humbly merge into one whole, just like the original buildings.
The cottage on a nice large plot is complemented by a brick shed, which, after minor adjustments, serves as an agricultural building and workshop for the needs of the village.

On the site of the demolished stone barn, construction of a cottage with two small municipal apartments is planned for the future. These will serve as municipal or holiday housing.

The paved areas around the building are lined with stone paving and seeded with gravel turf. Mature trees complement the perennial flower beds. Fruit trees will return to the orchard.