Summer House
Mrs. F. owned a large house in the village of Panoší Újezd. It had become too big for her, so she decided to keep only the old pigsty and a small patch of garden from the entire property, on which she would build a summer house. It was in terrible condition.
She reached out to me because I’m originally from the same district. She wanted me to design a large window for the room. We agreed that the entire project should be approached in a raw, industrial style, using concrete and steel. She had a personal connection to the place, so we didn’t rebuild it from scratch. She didn’t want to start from zero. As a result, every stone in the house was turned over.
It didn’t stop at just one new window. In the end, several more were added. As the project progressed, its scope and scale of modifications grew. A bathroom was carved out of the opposite slope. There was always one mason working on the site. The client selected them carefully, and they proved to be surprisingly skilled.
They were able to form and cast all the atypical concrete elements designed for this project, with remarkable precision given the circumstances.
The architectural approach centered on exposing the structural materials and utilizing the most basic construction techniques. Concrete became the medium for detail.
The stone walls were cleaned, and the brick walls were treated with a cement spray. The intervention that transformed the space most dramatically was the creation of new window openings lined with monolithic concrete jambs. This flows seamlessly into a concrete bench running around the perimeter of the main—and only—room. It serves as a step, storage space for wood, a sofa, and a bath. The windows themselves are made of steel profiles without a thermal bridge.
Given the scale of the project, the construction took a surprisingly long time. During that time, Mrs. F. and I found we were on the same page regarding our approach to working with concrete, and she subsequently finished the outdoor kitchen herself. My father also ended up getting involved in the project, welding the brackets for mounting the front door.
The project was unique simply because of the typology of a summer house. From a technical standpoint, we focused on solving at least the most essential issues—tempering the space during winter and ventilating the floor. All other interventions were exempt from standard thermal performance requirements. No thermal bridges = absolute freedom.
The result is not ostentatious architecture. On the contrary. The roughness, imperfection, and simplicity connect with the atmosphere of the place and highlight what has been present here from the very beginning.
