Prague, Czech Republic
Projektil Architekti
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
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Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
Natural light, ample space and an inspiring environment are essentials “for architects to work properly”. All of those qualities are present within the courtyard and in the vicinity of an old block of housing in
Smichov, Prague.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
When several young architects looked for a suitable place for their new studio, they came across an old, shabby building that used to be a prison, then a lacquer’s
workshop, a sculptor‘s studio and most recently a blacksmith´s workshop. Having been refurbished many times and lacking proper maintenance, there was little left of the original, historically valuable building.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
After surveying and some evaluation, a decision was made to demolish a substantial part of the old building. The one-storey, U-shaped building was turned into a two-storey structure with a simple rectangular outline.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
It‘s ground floor houses a meeting room, a
model-making workshop and toilets. The large, open-space atelier is placed on the upper floor. All of the spaces are naturally lit by strip windows facing the courtyard and by a linear skylight.
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
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| Photo © Courtesy of Andrea Thiel Lhotáková |
The studio is placed at rear of the courtyard, which is accessible from the street by a passage through the old block of flats. The three stone and brick walls that were left from the original building are placed at the edge of the courtyard. The new structures, framed with solid wood timbers, were inserted in to the space defined by the old walls. The cladding between the wooden bearing members was made of fire-resistant cement panels.
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| location plan--drawing © Courtesy of Projektil Architekti |
Thanks to its constrained position between the stone walls, the building has only one open facade facing the courtyard. Semi-transparent resin and fibreglass corrugated panels were used for cladding and for the shallow sloping lean-to roof.
site plan--drawing © Courtesy of Projektil Architekti
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| ground floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Projektil Architekti |
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| second floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of Projektil Architekti |
The light-weight character of the building envelope contrasts with the old heavy stone walls and goes hand-in-hand with the interior concept, based on the visible-bearing-structure principal. The internal room of the penthouse is thus mentally and physically interconnected with the external courtyard space.
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| cross section--drawing © Courtesy of Projektil Architekti |
The people
Architects: Projektil Architekti
Location: Františka Křížka 362/1, 170 00 Prague 7-Holešovice, Czech Republic
Project area: 200 sqm
Project year: 2007 – 2010
Photographs: Andrea Thiel Lhotáková
Note>>Location in this map, It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
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