Residential containers, Prague

High land prices and their scarcity are pushing housing out of city centers to the periphery. This ultimately leads to the emergence of suburban mono-functional agglomerations. Their residents are mostly reliant on cars, in which they spend a significant portion of their lives commuting to work and services. To improve this situation, it will be necessary to look for further development potential within cities. One option for gaining new space is more intensive use of building rooftops. This project looks at the roof not just as a place where living space can be built in, but as a fully-fledged construction site.
The extension consists of "containers" inserted into the roof and truss in such a way that they do not disrupt the readability of the original shape of the house. The containers – spatial boxes contain living rooms, social and technical backgrounds. The remaining part of the original attic is used for bedrooms and dressing rooms. The inserted boxes can be "clicked" into compact volumes with folding walls in the interior. This way, it is possible to divide the internal spaces into individual rooms as needed or, conversely, to connect them into larger units. Large openings - "eyes" have been cut into the walls for views outside, which can also be closed. From the deck placed on the metal box, there is a beautiful view of the surrounding city. The material solution is based on the architectural concept of the design. The original parts of the roof are restored using traditional technologies. For the inserted boxes, titanium zinc sheets and colored coatings are used to enhance contrast. All constructions are built with common technologies from commonplace materials (wood, glass, metal, drywall). Original parts of the truss are left raw without surface treatments for differentiation. In contrast, the new inserted elements are coated with titanium zinc sheets or covered with colored coatings.