A House In the Garden | ARCHTEAM

Today we visit a small timber-framed house in the Czech Republic. It is located on the outskirts of the historic town of Kromeriz, on a long and narrow lot with mature trees. ARCHTEAM worked within the constraints of the lot to produce a design that is closed on the sides but open to the backyard. The architects describe it as being like “a piece of furniture in the middle of the garden”.

ARCHTEAM kept the design small and simple to stay within the client’s limited budget. The house has a rectangular floor plan with one corner used to provide for an entry porch at ground level and a covered balcony above. The structure is a timber frame clad inside and out with manufactured wood panels, with the pieces prepared off-site and then assembled.

The ground floor has an L-shaped living, cooking and dining room with a glass wall overlooking the backyard. The two solid sidewalls stretch past to glass rear wall to direct and focus the view towards the garden, where the extended wood patio accentuates the long view towards the back of the lot.

Stairs lead up to the open loft bedroom and the adjacent bathroom. Both bedroom and bathroom open to the covered balcony. Only glass partitions (and perhaps curtains or blinds) separate the bedroom, bathroom and balcony, keeping the space feeling wide open.

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Photographs by Esther Havlová, courtesy of ARCHTEAM. Via Archello.

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