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WOHNEN • LIVING INNERE WERTE • INNER VALUES

Gestützt von Profilen, die auch als Rankgerüst dienen ... • Supported by profiles, which also serve as a trellis ...

... wird das aufgestockte Gebäude bald eingewachsen sein. • ... the building will soon be overgrown Vom Garten führt eine Treppe auf die Dachterrasse. • A staircase leads from the garden to the roof terrace.

T he single-storey house with a mansard roof from the 1930s had already undergone make contemporary additions. This approach allows plenty of light inside and spacious
many conversions, all aimed at making the building, originally constructed as a
rooms. Externally, the house will soon merge with the garden because the supporting
weekend domicile in today's Prague district of Suchdol, more comfortable and perma- metal corset also serves as a trellis for plants. An external staircase inserted between the
nently habitable. A family of six had fallen in love with the peaceful area and decided to building and the supporting structure leads to the 165-square-metre roof terrace.
set up their family residence here. But the structure of their dream home was dilapidated
and in no way corresponded to today's energy standards. Preservation or new construc- Flexible interiors adapt to individual needs
tion, reconstruction or modernization – Jan Šépka, former partner of HŠH architekti, and
since 2009 running his own office Šépka architekti, took up the challenge of breathing With natural, raw materials and tactile surfaces, the restructured areas clearly stand out
new life into the building. Known for his expressive, idiosyncratic designs – for example, from the old building. Walls of large-format concrete blocks, fair-faced concrete ceilings
"House in an Orchard" (2016) or "House on a Slope in Černín" (2009, HŠH architekti) – and screed floors take up the industrial look of the outer shell. Furniture and interior fix-
the Prague-based architect found an unusual, refreshing solution that stands out from tures are made of untreated birch plywood and create a homely atmosphere. No inflexi-
the neighbouring buildings. ble fixtures were used. Instead, the rooms are to allow adaptation to changing needs by
means of mobile equipment. The necessary space for this was achieved by eliminating
All-round beams support the old building the constraints of the small-scale 1930s layout: the old building was freed from its load-
bearing function by installing an additional supporting element designed for greater
Two full storeys with floor-to-ceiling glazing instead of punched windows, an accessible loads. A differentiated layering of vertical levels – the steel corset envelops the façade at
roof terrace in place of the mansard roof and an all-enclosing shell of steel profiles where different distances –results in a variety of new spatial qualities. Views through floor-to-
plaster façades usually shine in delicate colours - the contrast to the surrounding houses ceiling glazing alternate with views framed by deep wooden reveals. Interiors, which
could hardly be greater. And yet, after a four-year construction period, the shiny cube in- merge smoothly into the exterior, are supplemented by stair and balcony zones in front
tegrates into its neighbourhood without appearing like a foreign body. This may be due of them. Light and shadow effects on glossy surfaces overlap with naturally moving fa-
to the fact that Jan Šépka decided against an "either-or" and for an "as well as": to take çade greenery. Šépka architekti succeeded in creating a lively structure that incorporates
down parts of the old building where necessary, to support it where possible and to ageing and change of a building as a natural process - characteristic and expressive.

122 • AIT 3.2020