Reconstruction of the cottage on the slope

In a beautiful setting near Prague, the clients own a spacious cottage on a slope in an amazingly vast plot of land surrounded by mature greenery, which offers privacy for the clients. The cottage consists of a basement, ground floor, and an inadequate attic, where there is currently one small room. Our task was to design a new attic with three rooms and social facilities. An ideal solution was also to devise a separate entrance via outdoor stairs, as the building connects through a spiral staircase, making it impossible to carry furniture to the attic. Naturally, we were tasked with designing the façade of the entire cottage while preserving the main balcony. It was not an easy task. We drew multiple options, which we presented to the clients, and after discussion, we decided on a modern look for the cottage. In the attic, we designed three rooms with double beds, two bathrooms with skylights, and two separate toilets. We connected the outdoor staircase through an open terrace, which provides privacy and a separate entrance to the attic.
The clients liked the glazed gable, so we incorporated it into the design. It forms one of the focal points. Moreover, it beautifully illuminates all three rooms that open into the rafters, which have equal views of the expansive plot. We preserved the existing balcony, which we repaired and lined with a black stainless steel mesh. The asymmetrical balcony pleasantly divides an otherwise quite symmetrical gable. We wrapped the ground floor and gables in vertical cladding made of charred Siberian larch in black. We kept the windows in their original gray color as well as the roof's folded covering and the flashing elements made of painted aluminum sheet in zinc gray. We left the basement masonry exposed, uninsulated, to highlight the natural pointed stone. The combination of wood, stone, and glass evokes a modern impression of the entire design, enhancing the uniqueness of this building in the romantic environment of an English-style garden.