Czech architecture studio ORA has renovated a Renaissance-era household in the city of Český Krumlov, preserving unique features like its carved wooden beams even though including absolutely free-standing modern day furnishings.
Regional business owners Petra Hanáková and Radek Techlovský ordered the dilapidated dwelling in the city centre in 2016 and asked ORA to oversee a modernisation method that retains the interior’s historical character.
The 500-12 months-old making, now identified as Masná 130, had been neglected for decades and was not even linked to the town’s sewage technique. It also had flood-ruined foundations and a roof in require of significant repairs.
Regardless of its difficulties, the owners observed prospective in the residence and spent two yrs transforming its floor flooring into a cafe that has turn into a collecting area for the regional local community.
The newest stage of the venture involved renovating the initially-flooring living areas. The first intention was to redevelop them as rental flats, but Hanáková and Techlovský finally made the decision to build a one condominium that they could occupy them selves.
ORA’s structure for the condominium reveals elements of the building’s previous when introducing fashionable functions that reflect the owners’ love for contemporary structure and minimalist design and style.
“We did not want to create a historic ‘museum’ inside, nor a structure showroom,” said Hanáková and Techlovský. “We preferred to organically link the historic and modern day layers.”
The architects started by getting rid of an existing partition wall in the primary residing house and reinstating the original open format. This designed a substantial salon that reveals the entire splendour of the Renaissance-period wood ceiling.
The restoration approach also uncovered initial stone partitions that had been painted a deep crimson colour. With each other with the wooden rafters, this educated a materials palette that enhances these dark, saturated tones and creates a cosy atmosphere.
The apartment’s bedroom characteristics a smaller remnant of the authentic ceiling fresco. The rest of the space is painted a product colour to lend the place a quiet and soothing truly feel.
In the bathroom, ORA chose to mix great colours with white tiles and large mirrors to brighten the place. Playful aspects this kind of as the irregularly shaped bathtub, curved sinks and tiles with rounded edges assistance to soften the total aesthetic.
Throughout the condominium, the architects included bespoke freestanding furniture that performs the needed capabilities devoid of disturbing or concealing the existing heritage options.
“The inside layout is approached as a collage of motifs,” mentioned ORA. “The household furniture is inserted into the historic place in the type of separate objects that make length from the historic components.”
The kitchen area, for case in point, was developed as a standalone device that is elevated above the flooring and stops well shorter of the ceiling. Its sink, hob and countertop occupy a central void, with all other capabilities hid in just the cabinetry.
The bed options an oversized headboard that connects with a wardrobe on its reverse facet. It is put in the centre of the bedroom and is angled to offer the ideal perspective of the window and the original painted ceiling.
Customized-designed furniture is crafted from darkish-stained birch plywood with contrasting brass legs that assist to enhance the perception of separation from the existing areas.
Lights is possibly freestanding or integrated into home furniture these types of as the kitchen area unit and bed. An overhead light-weight above the dining desk is mounted on a bracket so it does not touch the historical ceiling.
ORA, which stands for Primary Regional Architecture, was founded in 2014 by Jan Veisser, Jan Hora and Barbora Hora. The studio is centered in the little city of Znojmo, with prior assignments which includes the conversion of a 16th-century household in Mikulov to generate a modern day guesthouse.
Other latest attempts at revamping the historical residences of the Czech Republic include a 1920s villa in Prague that was renovated by No Architects and a 100-calendar year-old condominium in Karlovy Fluctuate, where Plus A person Architects uncovered the building’s first paintwork.
The photography is by BoysPlayNice.
