In the spring of 2014, we were approached by builders with a wish to connect an apartment on the fourth floor with a duplex apartment on the fifth and sixth floors. We took on the project with pleasure, as the original 19th-century building in New Town, Prague, has a great location and, moreover, the rooftop terrace with a view of the nearby church was simply a challenge. The original duplex apartment underwent spatial modifications in the 90s that needed to be reassessed and generally simplified and "cleaned up".
One of the main motives of the design became the element of the concrete spiral staircase, which gently links all levels of the apartment and gives it its specific character. Beneath the staircase, a generous wardrobe space is created on the lower level, illuminated by light coming through a skylight located in the staircase mirror at the level of the main living floor.
The private part of the family is oriented to the lowest level, which we kept accessible through the original doors from the main building corridor. The main entry to the apartment is accessible one level higher through a private hallway directly from the elevator, which was added at the behest of the previous owner in the 90s.
The main shared living space is raised to maintain an airy connection and a flow of sunlight from the highest floor. We designed the apartment's interior to meet the builder's requirements, emphasizing refined and discreetly used materials that remind one of the building's history. All the furniture, including doors, is the work of meticulous carpentry, complemented by subtle tones of natural materials like stone, plaster, and possibly an outdoor wooden deck with a green roof.
We decided to terminate the portion of the building staircase to the highest level of the house, which was also built in the 90s, at the level of the 4th floor and utilized the remaining space for the technical background of the duplex apartment.
The time from the design to the relatively complicated negotiations with the authorities to the final realization took us nearly three years, which are now fully compensated by the satisfied use of the whole family and the resulting shared friendship.
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.