Family house with living terrace

Construction intention
A young family, previously living and working in Prague, inherited a garden house and a beautiful sloping plot with grown trees and a view near the Slapská Reservoir from their partner's grandmother. They decided to relocate permanently despite the daily commute and to rebuild the existing dilapidated house, which would have only served as a seasonal accommodation without any construction modifications, into a family home. The investors' requirements were from the beginning challenging and full of contradictory yet inspiring demands. On one hand, the clients wanted a family house that would meet the current demands of a young family for user comfort, energy efficiency, and modern construction techniques, but at the same time, they wanted to preserve the genius loci of the object inherited from the grandmother, to which the male half of the couple had very nice childhood memories. After long discussions and consideration of various options, the decision was finally made to preserve and reconstruct the original brick structure and to add a lightweight wooden extension for living space and a covered terrace.

Architectural solution
The layout evolved gradually and developed in several variations. In the end, from the original brick part, only the perimeter and load-bearing walls, the foundations, and the vaulted cellar remained. Instead of the original wooden ceiling, a new one made of ceramic blocks was installed, a loft conversion was carried out in the attic, the entire old house was fully insulated, and new waterproofing of the lower structure was executed by undercutting the load-bearing walls. This created space for a large entrance hall, which forms a visual axis for the entire ground floor thanks to glass double-wing doors. From the hall, access is provided to the parents' bedrooms with a dressing room, a study, a large family bathroom, and a technical room for the heat pump. The entrance hall also features space for a built-in wardrobe and a staircase to the attic, which has two children's rooms and another small bathroom. One of the children's rooms is large enough that it can be divided into two smaller ones in the future. The extension, built on the western side, took on the role of a social center – it houses a large open living room with a dining area, kitchen, living room, and a fireplace stove. The family wished to connect their life with the garden as much as possible, thus the shared living space is fully glazed on the southern side and leads out to a large covered terrace on a wooden deck through French windows. The feeling of connection is also enhanced by the same height level of the floors. The internal layout and placement of windows and doors are also designed with regard to interesting views and perspectives. The architectural concept is based on the principle that opposites attract.
 
Structural solution
The new wooden structure of the extension, clad in red panels and covered with a green vegetation roof, contrasts with the old preserved brick structure with wide walls. The exposed wooden structure of the roof trusses is reflected in the large glazed walls, the floor is a combination of large ceramic tiles with a metal patina and wooden teak mosaics, and the smooth glossy surfaces of the design elements in the kitchen, bathrooms, and doors contrast and complement each other with the massive teak furniture and the handcrafted accessories and decorations from Indonesia, which the architect secured and prepared for the clients as a culmination of two years of construction efforts.

Architect as sculptor
At first glance, the house attracts attention with its unusual, almost sculptural shaping, characteristic of the works of the KLANC atelier. The façade is plastic, composed of multiple layers like an onion's skin. The layers cast different shadows on each other depending on the daylight, contrasting in color and material. The wooden columns in the shape of an X supporting the terrace structure are not only a distinctive feature of the house but also an ingeniously concealed static bracing construction, the details of which were drawn from a study of old, honest carpentry structures. The glazed areas that are in the second plane of the façade are complemented by real, not inserted, horizontal divisions of the large glass areas of the French windows. The façade of the wooden structure is clad in red-painted cement boards. The carpentry details of the ceiling significantly speak both on the façade and in the interior.

Renovation yes or no
The entire renovation, including the extension, ultimately cost almost the same as building a new house. Technically and temporally, it might have been a bit more demanding than building a house from the ground up. However, the owners gained something much more valuable than just a new home. They have a home with a charming personality and a great added value of an unmistakable design, which gave a second chance to a building that would have been destined for demolition for most others.