Family House “Heart” / Daniela Polubědovová

Architects: Daniela Polubědovová
Location: Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic
Architect In Charge: Daniela Polubědovová
Area: 241.0 m2
Project Year: 2017
Photographs: Filip Šlapal

Engineering: Jiří Václavů, Petr Jančík, Milan Bulva

Text description provided by the architects. The assignment of the investor, the shape of the parcel, and the location in Havlíčkův Brod was both an inspiration and an impulse to create an organic form for a new type of a family house. The project was from the start called “The heart” because the floor plan strongly evokes such shape.

The sloping terrain of the parcel with its gradual descent creates a difference in height which in relation to the street level is about the height of one standard floor. This newly created space was used as a garage (with direct access from the property) and is used to house all of the necessary amenities like the boiler, storage and a utility room.The main living area of the house is set on the highest part of the property (with relation to the sloping street level).

Coming from the street, you will be welcomed by the friendly and open theme we chose for this side of the property. This is why the house is positioned closer to the pavement and is for the most part left without any fences.

In the entrance it was necessary to create a feeling of intimacy of a homely living space and the relatively closed facade has only a few windows. The living quarter which contains the bedroom, the living room and the kitchen are facing the garden with an entrance to the balcony with a beautiful view of the nearby forest.

In harmony with the surrounding nature we chose to use mostly natural materials and colours. To enhance the elegant curves of the house, the facade is covered in a rusty vertical corrugated metal with a very smooth wave pattern. The pergola is made out of wooden beams which copy the wave pattern of the glass facade and is creating a sort of an eyelash over the open windows of the house.

The green roof, wild greenery lawns, thick bamboo patches and rusty rebar poles of the surrounding fences add to a combination of colours which harmoniously fits in with the ever-changing colour palette of the surrounding scenery.

We kept with the natural theme in the interior as well. This is not only the colour and material selection such as old wood, natural stone, heavy wooden beams, shades of light green, sky blue, dark green, but also in the design decisions of individual features. Door handles, handrails, pulleys on heating features in bathrooms were specially cast from aluminium, based on real twigs, leaves and wooden stumps which were locally sourced.