JFK 2010 - first place in the house category

PLACE, where no house was ever planned, a place of disruption to urbanism, based on blocks, the arrogant dominance of the ministry. The ministry building creates a barrier, a wall, leaving unresolved residual space around it. Part of the residual space is a developed plot.
Contemporary urbanism enhances the dominance of the ministry building. If the surrounding plots were to be developed, this could diminish its impact and improve public spaces. Appropriate densification of the central parts of Prague is desirable as a counterbalance to the negative trend of the depopulation of Prague to satellites.
The key is to offer quality urban housing. The archetype of urban housing is the tenement house with an inner courtyard, my design is based on this archetype. Quality housing is related to the words neighborhood, encounters, intimacy, appropriateness, simplicity. Naturally, pleasant living must connect the apartment with the outdoor environment.
My building wants to be solid, but not just another wall. The visual axis passing through the plot is preserved. It aims to protect its residents from the deluge of low-quality public space. It closes in on itself, yet is ajar and welcoming to all visitors. Balconies protruding like a submarine's periscope are looking out for improvements in the surrounding situation.
The building creates an enclosed but accessible and scale-appropriate outdoor space – COURTYARD = a central shared space for all apartments. Only from the courtyard can one enter the individual apartments. Most apartments have a visual connection to the courtyard. The courtyard serves as a place for both shared and private time. A place for children’s play and summer barbecues.
The apartments are based on an open floor plan; often, individual rooms can be connected, and due to the cutting of the volume of the apartment building, they are illuminated from several sides. Views from the living spaces are both into the courtyard, the garden of the kindergarten, and the street. They never face directly towards the ministry. There are a total of 19 apartments in this residential building, some of which are duplexes. In the ground floor, there is a café, a shop, and a medical office. The café has a terrace by the staircase leading to the courtyard. The parking lot situated under the courtyard has 20 spaces on two levels.
CONSTRUCTION – reinforced concrete skeleton filled with thermally insulating aerated concrete blocks
MATERIALS – facades facing the street: only painted dark gray unifying the color of the blocks and the finish covering the thermal insulation on the concrete skeleton
- facades facing the courtyard: larch wood without surface treatment