The family reconstructed a swallow's nest at the bottom of the quarry

The most famous working-class colony in Brno, Kamenná čtvrť, grew in the bottom of a closed quarry in the 1930s. Emergency houses were created here like swallow nests, that is, from whatever materials were available. Half a century later, artists began to move here, and the area became known for its bohemian character. Today, it is once again a "traditional" quarter, yet it continues to maintain its genius loci. This is also thanks to sensitive renovations that cleverly incorporate modern housing elements into the original structures.

For example, through large glass areas of aluminum windows (Schüco) or electrically operated skylights (VELUX), which architects used to bring natural light into the dark interior of their house located at the bottom of the quarry near the rock wall. Architects Radim and Hana Horák have come to appreciate living near the center of Brno while also being close to the river and the forest; for them, it is "a kind of village in the city," but raising children has prompted them to embark on a renovation.

More windows than walls...

The original layout was a result of years of chaotic building in the alleys between houses and did not meet today's needs at all. "Every room had a floor at a different height, the ceiling heights were low (2.15 m), there was a lack of insulation, and locally, dampness and associated mold appeared, and the layouts were dark. A half-hearted solution made no sense, which is why we approached the renovation comprehensively," begins Ing. arch. Radim Horák.

The single-story house with a gabled roof covered with metal was intertwined with the surrounding houses, both in its structure and in its utilities. The goal of the renovation was to structurally separate the building, including the construction of its own utility connections, to increase the usable area of the building, and primarily to bring as much natural light into the interior as possible. "We wanted to keep the building as low as possible, which is why we proposed increasing the usable area by partially building over the existing yard with a new single-story extension. The original object remains visually apparent, separated from the new part. The original interior walls were removed, we cleaned the entire interior and leveled the floors into one plane. The house is situated at the bottom of the quarry near the rock wall, and the sun reaches it quite late, which is why we wanted to brighten it as much as possible, and we succeeded," continues the architect and satisfied resident of the house in one person.

On the courtyard side, there are more glass surfaces than opaque walls, and natural light was also let into the house through skylights. In the part beneath the gabled roof of the original building is the living room with a dining table. "The space is completely open to the roof, and besides the extensive glass area from the aluminum HS portal, it is also lit from above with remote-controlled skylights with both internal and external shading," describes Ing. arch. Radim Horák.

Bronze anodized aluminum has priority

From the kitchen corner, one can enter a small wardrobe and ascend to the bedroom via stairs, which features a large aluminum window (Schüco) that also provides access to the vegetated roof terrace. The bedroom opens up to the quarry's rock wall via a dormer. From the living room, doors lead into the section with the former extensions, now a children's room for three small children. They also have a small internal atrium, enclosed by the surrounding houses, which is accessed via a large seating window from the living room.

The entrance to the house has been moved to the new extension, which is designed with the smallest possible structural height (the clear height inside is only 2.3 m, and the ceilings are made of exposed reinforced concrete). Following the entrance is a hallway that can be used to pass through the house to the courtyard. Right behind the entrance door, there is a designated technical corner, and on the opposite side, a small trapezoidal study (which responds to the shape of the land) is located behind sliding doors. In front of the courtyard doors, the hallway curves along a covered outdoor seating area and leads into the original building, with a library designed along it that includes doors to a separate toilet and a bathroom. The bathroom is lit internally by a skylight, which is also electrically operated (VELUX).

Visually, the renovation with the extension is a combination of reinforced concrete, old solid-fired bricks, plaster, green vegetative roofing, and anthracite metal elements. The openings are designed as aluminum with triple glazing (Schüco) as well as fully glazed entrance doors, which allow passersby to see straight through the house to the courtyard. Inside, there is a combination of various natural materials. "We also considered wooden windows, after all, our house is "more traditional," but aluminum windows and Schüco sliding systems had greater advantages for us. The decision was primarily based on their maintenance-free nature, favorable price, and the color of the anodized bronze frames. The anodized finish visually retains the metallic appearance of aluminum, and the windows are not painted, which corresponds with other materials used in the house," explains Ing. arch. Radim Horák.

The pink kitchen also features a smart wall for children and parents

The new extension has a floor made of colored tiles, while the old part has a three-layer wooden oak laminate. Natural birch plywood runs throughout the house (furniture, entrance cladding, doors, ceilings in the living room and bedroom), with locally treated plywood (blue - relaxation corner of the living room, pink - kitchen). "We love colors, so we did not shy away from our daughter's idea for a pink kitchen and tried to complement this somewhat unusual color appropriately with materials and colors," continues Ing. arch. Radim Horák. A special element of the kitchen is the so-called smart wall, which is magnetic and writable - children have a place to draw, while parents have space for a shopping list...

The walls of the bathroom, toilet, and areas above the kitchen counter are made of Moroccan stucco. The gable and one wall in the children's room, study, and bedroom are made as a black clay wall with golden shavings. "Finely chopped straw is incorporated into the clay plaster, which shines and changes color when sunlight hits it, thus changing the mood of the interior throughout the day," explains the architect.
The ceilings are exposed reinforced concrete with imprints from wooden boards, and the exposed concrete continues into a new lintel above the glazing (HS portal) from the living room to the courtyard, including new load-bearing pillars around it. The rest of the walls are "traditionally plastered" and finished with white paint.

Another unifying element in both the interior and exterior is the circle. "Round elements soften the impression, which is why the element of the circle repeats in the house - we like the rounded edges of furniture, the bathtub is curved, the mirror at the entrance is circular, and the windows in the bathroom and toilet doors are round....," lists Ing. arch. Radim Horák. Indeed, even the outdoor overhang of the roof terrace has a rounded shape (responding to the tree), as does the water feature.

The roof is the third façade

The architects unified and simplified the mass of the original part of the building (the extensions are now covered with a flat roof at the same level). The sloped roof is again covered with metal, but newly in anthracite color (previously it was red), which refers to the former use of black asphalt felt as a roof covering in the original emergency houses. At that time, the roof landscape of the entire locality was diverse, emphasizing the "swallow's nest," so typical for this area. The entire original volume was insulated with mineral wool and plastered. "The house stands at the bottom of a quarry, so the roof is essentially the third façade - people who walk along the edge of the quarry can see the roof, which is why we also considered its appearance. We unified the material and color of the dormer and skylights with the roof metal, which is why we chose the anthracite shade," continues Ing. arch. Radim Horák.

The renovation preserved references to the past

The new extension is entirely designed with a flat roof, and the walls are sandwich construction, where the visible parts facing the exterior are made of solid fired bricks obtained from demolition work on the original house. The bricks are intended to reference the former residents of the locality, who were often employees of a nearby brick factory, from which they would carry construction materials. The bricks are complemented by exposed concrete (plinth, parapet), which extends into the courtyard in a straightforward canopied structure above the outdoor seating area. Flat roofs are designed as green extensive roofs, with a small terrace above the new extension. The internal walls, infill walls, etc., are made from trimmed ceramic blocks.

The outdoor courtyard is partially covered; underneath the overhang, there is outdoor seating and the original garden fireplace (grill) placed. The courtyard is paved with granite slabs, combined with areas of brushed concrete and areas for vegetation. The garden transitions down wooden steps (the same wood is also used in the internal atrium and on the outdoor terrace).

"The locality retains the spirit of the 1980s when it was known as an artistic quarter; we pay homage to this time with the imprints of the artist TIMA on the exposed concrete, the bust of St. Methodius (as the patron of Moravia and co-patron of Europe) by sculptor Vladimír Matoušek in a niche on the gable and a free inner gable wall in the living area, which we gradually complement with paintings, posters, photographs, and other artifacts," concludes Ing. arch. Radim Horák.