Reconstruction of an apartment in Brno

photo: Barbora Ponešová

“According to the study, nothing can be realized.” That's what almost every architect will tell you, and it's almost always true. However, sometimes, in very exceptional cases, it is possible. But you must meet three conditions: 1) the construction site must be within a ten-minute walk from your studio. 2) you must be lucky with the contractors, who prefer communication over creativity – if they don't know, they won't come up with ideas, but they will call. 3) the client must be someone working in logistics.

The renovation of an apartment in a historic building on Jiráskova Street in Brno was exactly this case. The investor and his girlfriend approached us immediately after purchasing the apartment, which the previous owner had left in the middle of unfinished renovations – the apartment was essentially in a rough construction state. They wanted to move in within three months. Very diplomatically, we tried to convey to them that it was utterly impossible, and although it was true, they moved in (albeit to a not entirely furnished apartment) only a little later. The study mentioned at the beginning was never created. After approving the concept and trying out several options for the layout solution, we went straight to implementation. All subsequent matters were resolved on-site and the drawings were produced on the spot. It sounds like quite an amateurish approach, but the opposite was true – everything was verified directly on site instead of on a monitor. For example, a "white" shade of furniture paint was chosen, which looked the most pleasant in the light of the apartment but which is actually slightly greenish. And the drawing for the tile layout, delivered in a "random" manner always with three out of eight possible patterns, was created in a nearby café in a way that must have seemed to an outsider like playing a memory card game.

photo: Barbora Ponešová

The fact that the apartment was practically half-finished greatly facilitated certain decisions and significantly accelerated the necessary inspections. It was also easier to correct some major mistakes made by the previous crew, especially during the installation exchanges. Apart from a few construction modifications related to the kitchen and bathroom, it was decided to keep the original layout and strive to save everything original that was possible. This primarily concerned the infill of openings – both doors and windows; both were excellently refurbished. The same applies to the floors; with the exception of the kitchen, bathroom, and wardrobe, the original floorboards are present everywhere. This approach also resulted in the most significant artistic element of the entire apartment, two fragments of paintings found beneath the top layer. Both surfaces appear in the living room, one as the background for the library and one as an abstract painting above the dining table. Their colors also determined the color work in other rooms; therefore, the gray-painted surfaces are not neutral but slightly bluish. This is also related to the choice of gray-blue tiles from the Refin collection and several striking contrasting accents – the technical closet in the bathroom, the strip above the countertop in the kitchen, and the floor in the wardrobe thus bear a vibrant yellow color in accordance with their functional purposes. Additional accents appear in the form of furniture with a retro spirit – a blue armchair by Miroslav Navrátil, chairs and tables in the bedroom from the Danish manufacturer Hay, or a slightly redesigned beer set in the kitchen (the tap is located in the pantry).

Despite the somewhat unconventional course of the design and implementation, the renovation turned out to be satisfactory for both parties. However, such an approach cannot generally be recommended. If you do not have excellent organizational and logistical talent, your architect is more than ten minutes' walk away from the construction site, and your contractor knows best, definitely do not implement anything according to a study.