Atelier Hajný references rural Czech cabins for housing block

The Atelier Hajný, a local company, designed a dwelling block outside Prague with a burned timber front that pays homage to the client’s childhood vacation home.

Located in the town of Şíčany, the 180-square-meter house named Hut-Inspired House is modeled after the gabled form of nearby cabins that are currently being demolished because of the area’s reconstruction.

“The huts here are gradually disappearing because the new zoning plan in the entire area is set for the construction of family homes,” said Martin Hajný, the creator of Atelier Hajný.

We concurred with the customer that it would be fair to consider the shape and appearance of the original structure given the historical significance of the location and the emotive connection to it.

Hut-Inspired House appears to be a single residence, but on the inside it is split into two independent studio apartments and the main house, which is spread across two stories.

The bottom floor’s independent studio apartments are situated next to the main house’s living room and kitchen, which have sliding glass doors that lead out to a patio and a garden.

The main house’s study and bedrooms benefit from the extra height provided by the steeply pitched roof, which is inside lined with light wood.

The gable roof’s triangle shape extends outward from the back of the house to form a balcony that shades the patio below, which is protected from the elements by an exposed screen made of vertical timber battens.

“We wanted to keep the lower deck from rain so we decided to place a cantilevered balcony in front of the master bedroom,” Hajný told Dezeen.

“When trying to come up with a railing design, it felt natural to use the wooden planks and support the gable triangle shape – the balcony also faces the railway so it helps to lower the noise a bit.”

Another homage to the look of traditional Czech cottages is seen inside, where exposed ceiling beams and “unobtrusive and natural” cross-laminated wood (CLT) panels are finished.

The black kitchen worktops and cabinets and the full-height, black-stained timber storage sections dividing the first floor are references to the exterior’s burned timber.

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