Thanks to a change in the zoning plan, a number of new urban complexes will be built on the outskirts of the well-known Brno housing estate. One of them is our proposed area of small apartment buildings.
The narrow, steeply rising plot creates ideal conditions for terraced construction with a view of the entire city. Such an urban complex had to be distributed so that a row of buildings did not affect the vedute too much in terms of its volume. Thus, in addition to the vertical slope, the individual houses are also separated by a modular displacement. In addition, this effect is supported by the upward distribution of the mass of houses. This creates continuous terraces on each floor, which offer panoramic views of the city.
The very nature of the surfaces modeled in this way enabled the test of an interesting dispositional principle. In the basement there is parking for the inhabitants of the house, while on the first floor there is the largest of the three apartments. Paradoxically, it turns from the impressive view into the covered area of the garden, which ends with the adjacent forest. However, the apartments on the next two floors are oriented in the opposite direction towards the street terraces of the house. This creates a layout that allows residents of the largest apartments to enjoy relatively high privacy. On the third floor there is the smallest, but at the same time the most interesting layout, which enjoys the best views.
The layout on the first floor is designed as a transversely ventilated four-room apartment with a garden. The smaller layout of the three-room apartment with a continuous terrace is located on the second floor and the smallest apartment is on the last third floor. Such a disposition in the case of multi-generational use of the house serves as a parents’ apartment.
Facades are designed in a simple grid of double-casement windows using several types of linings. They shield the window areas from the harshest sun and open in the late hours. In terms of material, the facades are a simple combination of cladding made of brick strips on a meaningfully stable plinth of the house and white plaster in lightened upper floors. This earthy combination of materials is complemented by locksmith products, window frames and brass details. In contrast to the dark cladding of the ground floor of the house, concrete slabs are then used for simple linings. The communication core is illuminated by a glass block wall from the exterior in the name of Brno’s legacy.
