A contemporary wooden cottage by Prodesi

This contemporary cottage faces the Sázava River in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is mainly intended to serve as a weekend and summer vacation home. An old small house on the site was beyond repair and was removed, leaving behind a stone basement. Architect Pavel Horák of Czech studio Prodesi designed a new cottage to sit on the old foundation, gaining space by cantilevering the floor on three sides.

The 133 m² (1,432 ft²) cottage has a gable-roofed main body, with projecting wings on either side giving it a cross-shaped floor plan. The roof extends to create a covered terrace overlooking the rear yard and river. The exterior is clad with untreated larch boards applied vertically, along with a standing seam metal roof. The gray metal is also used selectively as an accent on the walls of the projecting portions.

The architect designed the small floor plan with the service areas of kitchen, bathroom and utility room lined up along the road side, leaving the view side free for the social spaces. The ground floor walls on the river side are almost entirely glass to maximize the views. For privacy, there are no windows on the sides facing the neighbors, and only a few narrow strips of windows facing the road.

Just off the living room is a spacious entry vestibule. Upon entering the cottage, visitors are immediately presented with a view of the river via a floor-to-ceiling window. In cold weather the vestibule can be closed off from the living room with a pair of large sliding doors, but otherwise it can be used as part of the living area. The centrally-located stair leads up to the two bedrooms. There is also a half bath upstairs.

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Photographs by Lina Németh, courtesy of Prodesi.

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