Residential project Origami

photo: Lukáš Žentel

The residential project Origami in the peaceful villa district of Prague 6 stands out from the usual perception of individual housing. Although it is formally defined as an apartment building, its concept is closer to living in an individual villa. Each of the seven buildings can have a maximum of two apartments, each with its own entrance and a separate spacious garden. Upon request, it is possible to combine apartments to create a standalone house with a total usable area of up to 330 m². The shared internal communication and underground garages with cellars create an intimate residential complex from the apartment units, which is enclosed from the outside. The concept of the Origami project combines the advantages of living in an apartment and a family house. Moreover, it offers space for expressing the individual ideas of future residents. A project of similar scope and focus in the area of Prague is not easy to find.
The apartment building is located in the cadastral area of Prague 6 - Ruzyně. It lies north of Karlovarská Street and southwest of Drnovská Street. At the level of the above-ground floors, it is divided into 4 separate two to three-story masses with flat roofs. This division is made to adapt to the surrounding development, which consists of solitary family houses in close proximity to the west. Each mass is further structurally divided into halves of varying heights, in which the individual apartment duplex units are situated. The apartments are accessible from the open space created between the masses, on the roof of the shared basement. This internal communication, for pedestrians only, connects Zbuzanská Street and the road under Karlovarská Street. The vertical communication (elevator with stairs) from the basement also exits here. The individual duplex apartments have a maximum area of 120 m². They are two to three stories of size 4+kk. On the ground floor, there are living rooms with kitchenettes, while the upper floors contain the bedroom area. The greenery on the plot will serve as front gardens for the individual apartments, with the living rooms of the individual apartments oriented towards the greenery. The orientation of the windows on the upper floors is chosen to ensure the intimacy of the individual apartments while also meeting the requirement for sunlight and natural lighting of the apartment.
The Origami project received an Honorable Mention in the new building category at the Grand Prix of Architects 2016 and became the winner of the Facade of the Year 2016 competition.