Nominator: Jan Veisser

RENOVATION OF INTERWAR HOUSE IN NITRA

An interwar town villa from the 1930s was facing demolition. We managed to save it and adapt it to the client’s current needs — as a representative company headquarters. Conceptually, the project was driven by one clear aim: to preserve the building’s continuity — the genius of the house itself. A painful reality today is that buildings without official heritage protection often disappear through disrespectful reconstructions. And yet many older structures are defined by high-quality materials and efficient layouts — ready to serve for decades more.

We used the villa’s potential to the fullest. The former living spaces were carefully renovated, and the layout was adjusted to become more open and filled with daylight. Dark attic was transformed into a flexible space that shifts between a meeting room and a place for workshops. At the same time, it can be easily converted into a residential unit in the future, without additional construction interventions.

The exterior façade keeps its original tectonic order — an articulated plinth, a clearly defined corner, and a decorative cornice. On the roof we added new dormers: contemporary elements with a clean, readable form and material. Their shape enters into a dialogue with the historic parts of the house.

The project’s sustainable approach connects two priorities: reducing CO₂ emissions during construction and operation and improving the quality of the indoor environment for its users. For new structures, we reused material from demolition works. To prevent overheating, we applied high-accumulation insulation based on recycled wood. Renewable energy is provided by an air-to-water heat pump. Heating is delivered through low-temperature underfloor heating, and cooling is achieved passively — without the use of air conditioning.

BUILDING OF THE MUNICIPAL LIBRARY IN ČESKÁ LÍPA AND REVITALIZATION OF TOWN SQUARE

The starting point of the project was contextual architecture. The design follows the environment of the historical monument zone and the preserved parts of historical buildings in the area of the site. We try to follow the building continuity of the location, which was interrupted by the totalitarian regime.
We adapt the height and shape of the roof to the surrounding mass. By separating the new volume and linking it with a bridge, the design recalls the traditional gate that once marked the entrance to the courtyard.

VILA EMILY APARTMENT HOUSE IN ROKOSKA, PRAGUE

We are restoring a First Republic-era apartment building with a clear goal: to bring back its dignity — and make it a great place to live for decades to come. The house will offer eight generous family apartments and a community garden in the courtyard — a quiet, everyday luxury of space, daylight, and shared life in the middle of the city.

Rokoska was once known for its romantic summer residences set in wilder nature — a place where architecture and landscape formed one story. This memory matters: the project does not erase the past, it continues it with respect and clarity.

A key step is removing an unsuitable street-side extension from the 1990s that had suppressed the original façade. By taking away what never truly belonged, the building can return to its true volume, proportions, and presence in the street.

The design builds on cultivated nobility without over-decoration — gently romantic yet purified and modest. We preserve the building’s identity: its tectonics, the rhythm of openings, and the axial symmetry of the street elevation, restored from the original drawings.

New interventions remain clearly contemporary and readable, without imitation. The exterior is composed as a gradual transition: from a heavy stone plinth to finely textured plaster, and up to airy metal-clad dormers. The same principle shapes the railings, becoming lighter as they rise, ending in a minimalist line on the upper terraces.

In essence, it is a careful return to the building’s original logic and timeless beauty — adapted to the comfort of today’s family living.