Medník House
Life’s transitions often prompt us to rethink the places we call home. Yet as family dynamics evolve and patterns of daily life undergo fundamental change, can an existing building show the resilience to grow alongside its inhabitants, gradually taking on a new form attuned to its time?
The existing building was built at the beginning of the 20th century on the edge of a rocky slope above the Sázava River. In 2010, it underwent a major renovation and an extension of the hanging part to the garden. However, it gradually became clear that the size of the building no longer met the client's needs. The client's assignment was to expand the existing family house. The client's idea was to create an open studio-type space for the client's creative activities with plenty of light, complemented by a separate sleeping area with a bathroom and toilet.
When searching for a suitable location and volume, the architect team respected the wedge-shaped shape of the land, the configuration of the terrain, the existing mature trees, and it turned out that it was important to preserve the view from the house's garden to the Sázava valley and the top of Medník.
The team designed the extension as a free-standing object on the border of the forest and the garden, which is connected to the existing house by a covered terrace, into which we incorporated a full-grown oak tree standing in the immediate vicinity of the building. A covered walkway was designed towards the garden. The building is open to the terrace and the valley with sliding windows, and a closed corner is set against the existing building. A simple hanging gallery is inserted into the studio. The morphology of the extension follows the existing house.
The structural solution is based on the client's ability to partially carry out the construction himself. The foundation of the building on micropiles was provided by a specialized company. The other structure, the supporting steel frame and the subsequent upper wooden structure, were carried out in a self-help mode. The house is clad in tanned larch cladding. The interior of the building is finished in spruce bioboard with integrated furniture and storage spaces.
Principal Designers | Miloš Munzar
Participate | Tomáš Kovalčík
Character of Space | Residence
Gross Floor Area | 87㎡
Building Area | 159㎡
Site Area | 1618㎡
Materials | reinforced concrete / stone / steel / wood, spruce, KVH profiles / wood, solid larch / wood, solid larch tanned / wood, Admonter spruce brushed bioboard / cement screed / glossy titanium-zinc sheet metal
Location | Luka pod Medníkem, Jílové u Prahy, Czech Republic
