Martin Jan Rosa

I don't like designing houses on a completely flat lot – which is why I really enjoyed this study. The steeply sloping plot in the form of a mature garden on the outskirts of Kutná Hora (overlooking St. Barbara's Cathedral – hence the inspiration for the distinctive exoskeleton on the facade) presented a challenge to position and arrange the house so that the slope was an advantage rather than a complication. The house therefore takes the form of a simple cube with the lower part partially recessed into the ground (while keeping the foundation area as small as possible. Thanks to the clients' clear idea of the ideal functioning of the dream house during everyday life, we found a consensus on its basic concept relatively quickly, which we then simplified into the final form. The house is divided into a resting area on the lower floor and a day area on the upper floor – the latter takes the form of one space divided by a central staircase and a fireplace into four quadrants: a kitchen with a dining room, a living room consisting of two separate parts and a study with a background.