Family House Zeleneč

When the clients approached us, they had already purchased a plot of land in a small village called Zeleneč, east of Prague. They had been living in the village for several years and knew it would provide them with exactly what they wanted - quick connection to Prague by suburban train, peace, and plenty of greenery. We immediately fell in love with the plot, just as they did. In the original development of small houses behind a wall of tall trees, there was a small flat plot in the middle with a large boxwood. We knew we wanted to maximize the garden's preservation and, if possible, not cut down a single tree. Even that boxwood was successfully relocated during the construction to another part of the plot and is now part of the front garden.

The four-member family wanted to design a house that could keep all members together. They did not want the children in one part of the house and the parents in another, and given that there were strict regulations regarding the plot's occupancy in the village, we decided on a small experiment. The center of the layout is the living room, from which you can access the garden on two sides, both to the front and to the rear, which is entirely private. Surrounding it are the individual rooms, arranged like a ring. It is certainly interesting that due to this unusual arrangement, the layout has no hallways. No useless spaces. We offered the family the maximum possible use of the plot's occupancy and brought the family together around the "heart" of the house.

The house is a single-storey brick structure combined with a monolithic ceiling. The roof design was very important from the outset because the municipality required a slanted roof. Thus, a roof was created that has two imaginary peaks, and its shape also influenced the façades of the house. Combined with various window heights and a rhythmic alternation of white and wooden façades, the house has uniquely original façades. The dominant feature is the window of the large children's room facing the garden, where the rise of the roof is also used in the interior - it is the only raised room in the house.

Since we always design houses as a whole, from the interior out, our work also included the interior design of the house. Soft tones of white, cream, and gray were chosen, with a subtle line of black selected to bring everything together, which can be found in the details of the interior (lighting, pillows, tableware, etc.).