Villa Roztoky

Renovation of a villa in Roztoky u Prahy

Project: 2005, Completion 2007

Cooperation: Pavel Hnilička.

Jan Dluhoš, Petra Bláhová-Kandusová

Project implementation: since 2006

Contract value: cca 12 mil. Kč

Contractor:

L – Stav s.r.o.

Grand Prix nominee 2008

Location:

The building site is situated on the splendid edge of a terrace above the river Vltava between main square and a Stadium. This place has been inhabited since early Stone Age and still offers a very pleasant environment for living. It is surrounded by villas of various architectural quality dispersed between gardens and parks. The plot is adjacent to a pre-war Stadium, that extends optically the space of the garden. The western side of the garden is closed by a shaggy water-station. The area is quiet yet equipped with necessary servicing facilities.

The house standing on the plot represents an average pre-war development that didn’t show any outstanding architectural value. Rather big overall volume of the house showed somewhat narrow spatial solution inside. The standard qualities have still been diminished by a very insensitive additions after the war.

Architecture:

The aim of the project was to design an attractive villa for family with children that has got a pleasant, cosy atmosphere. The best qualities of the original house will be preserved and developed (such as the connection to the garden or the original staircase), the worst mistakes will be fixed. The ground floor disposition will be remodelled completely. A new connection to the garden is created by lowering of the living room floor, opening the Southern façade via large French windows and creating an adjacent covered Salla Terrena with stairs that lead to the garden. This space offers particularly pleasant and intimate environment for living. The First floor houses four rooms including the Master Bedroom with necessary service spaces. The Top Floor contains a Guest Room and Office, connected to a large Terrace, that may serve as a place of relaxation and entertainment during the warmer days of the year. It will also offer beautiful views on surrounding trees, stadium, and even the other bank of the River Vltava.

The overall architectural expression of the house develops the important conceptions of contemporary Central-European architecture with regards to refined minimalist details, balance of forms and proportions, poetry of natural materials and practical functional simplicity. The architectural forms of the proposal are easily legible, structurally logical, respecting the important layers of local building tradition in their own way simultaneously. The local building authorities do not express any negative comments at all to the architecture of the proposal according to the preliminary consultations. The spatial solution is generous, yet not lavish.

We provide two parking spaces on the plot, one in the built-in garage, other under a light roof outside in the service court. The basement provides a large heating, laundry, storage and wine cellar spaces. A remodelling of the front fence was drawn out, including a new automatic gate for the cars.