authors: Boris Redčenkov, Prokop Tomášek, Jaroslav Wertig
cooperation: ing.arch. Petr Brožek
investor: private person

Reconstruction of a single family house from 1990s, Brandýs nad Labem – Stará Boleslav, 2009

The proposed reconstruction of a single family house stems from the poetry and character of the place at the edge of a forest with its own pine grove. At the same time it is based on the needs of the family whose utilization, aesthetic and representative requirements the house no longer meets.
There are problems with the functional design of two access points to the house – by the walkway and through the garage. There are problems with relation to the surrounding terrain – limited utilization of the garden. And there are problems with the form of the

house – complex and not refined.
The ambition of the proposal has been to provide more intensive connection between the residence and the quality of the site and significant natural elements, to offer more comfortable operation and to re-design the house in a more unique, contemporary, elegant, representative and at the same time romantic form.
Searching for a more suitable relation of the house to the terrain resulted in a relatively simple concept in which the individual ambitions intersect.

Having analyzed the elevation conditions we found out that the house was closer to the terrain from the basement than from the main residential floor. This suggested that the best solution would be to transfer the main residential floor to the basement and arrange the surrounding terrain so that it leads straight to the basement. Even in this case we decided to secure direct connection to the terrain. The garden thus acquired two levels. The bottom linked to the main residential deck, and the top linked to the bedroom floor and covering extended

structures of garages and the main residential area. The top garden level has “cut off” the existing house and has created the impression of a single-floor house in a garden. The complex mass of the existing house with an L upstairs layout was complemented to form a regular rectangular shape and it was provided with a hip roof with a large overlap providing shade for bedroom windows.
In this way the current complex mass was radically simplified to an almost trivial residential archetype. The complex layout of the basement is covered by

the elevated terrain level. The garden is formed into a sort of semi flooded quarry over which an archetypal house is built. The “quarry” is shaped so as to secure maximum privacy in order to allow more intensive use of the deck and the garden. At the same time it steers the deck more to the west to receive the afternoon sunlight. Water is not only a romantic element but it also mirrors views and optically deepens the garden. It reflects the sun into the interior, makes the microclimate more pleasant, and creates a sense of security. The organic shape

of the “quarry” creates the impression of a vast, deep, horizontal space with subtle vertical lines of pine trees.
We have unified the entrance and garages, placed them into the basement and directed to the lowest point of the adjacent road and so the ramp to the garage and to the entrance has a gentle slope and the entrance is barrier-free. The entrance part of the house is directly linked to the social part devoted to the common life of the family, relaxing, work, housekeeping, and technical activities. 

The upstairs floor is devoted purely to the intimate part of the house. It contains bedrooms for parents and for children, a guest room and a laundry .
Both these operational regimes intersect in the hall linked directly to entrances. The workroom is linked to the entrance which allows having visitors without disturbing the private part of the house.
The main residential part consists of the living hall, dining room, and kitchen integrated all in one room. It is linked to the residential deck as well as to wellness and sauna.

Parents’ bedroom is a separate unit containing a bedroom, bathroom and dressing room.
Children’s rooms are solved as small suites with their own sanitary facilities.
Materials and colours have been selected so as to emphasize the overall effect of the concept, the union with nature and elegance at the same time. The quarry-like impression is formed by the rough structure of the horizontally placed stones followed in the interior by elegant dark wood with significant horizontal grain. The floors and ceiling are formed by

strict white areas contrasting with natural structures and these surfaces help to conduct exterior light deep into the building layout.
The bedroom floor is roofed with a dark hip roof using simple material and details providing the traditional shape design with the more up-to-date expression. The cladding of the amply glazed floor consists of a wooden lamella structure providing shade, directing views, and providing security. The design should provide emotional detachment between the quarry and the house styled above it.