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    Byró Architekti “blurs old and new” at renovated House in Kutná Hora

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    Prague studio Byró Architekti has renovated a 19th-century house in the Czech town of Kutná Hora, adding unexpected openings and colourful joinery that create a playful contrast with the original interior.

    The studio was tasked with restoring the character of the existing house, which had been compromised by a previous programme of renovations in the 1970s.
    Pastel green defines the entrance of House in Kutná Hora by Byró ArchitektiThe project improves the connection between the home’s internal spaces by introducing new windows and openings while aiming to seamlessly layer new elements on top of the original built fabric.
    “Our main goal was to rediscover the house’s memory and original layers, which were actually quite rare, and seamlessly blend them with new layers to create a cohesive whole,” Byró Architekti explained.
    Chequerboard tiles in the foyer match the painted joinery”We aimed to blur the boundary between the old and the new rather than highlighting it,” the studio added.

    The house’s main feature is a spiral staircase that forms a vertical circulation core at the centre of the plan. Internal windows and glass-block walls were added on each level to provide a visual connection to the living spaces.
    Plywood cabinetry and wall panelling feature in the ground-floor music roomAn original stone staircase links the ground floor and first floor, while a new stair leading to the attic has floating steel treads that allow light from a skylight to reach the lower level.
    A spacious entrance hall on the ground floor connects with a music room and a bathroom on one side of the staircase, while utility areas and an artist’s studio face onto a courtyard at the rear.
    Also on the ground floor is a small artist’s studio with colourful joineryThe main living space containing the kitchen is housed on the first floor along with the principal bedroom and a home office. The attic contains two bedrooms for the children as well as a bathroom.
    Light and colour are used throughout the project to create spaces with different atmospheres. While the building’s exterior is decorated modestly to fit into the streetscape, a more expressive colour palette is applied internally.

    Plus One Architects uncovers original paintwork of 100-year-old Czech apartment

    “Overall, muted shades are chosen combined with more pronounced colour surfaces or accents in several specific situations,” Byró Architekti said.
    The entrance hall features chequerboard floor tiles in a pastel-green hue that matches the painted joinery of the surrounding doors and windows. The balustrade and the treads of the new staircase are also finished in the same colour.
    Stairs lead up to the living spacesByró Architekti designed various pieces of custom furniture for the project, including a plywood shelving unit with a bright-red metal structure that extends along one wall of the ground-floor studio space.
    The playroom also features plywood cabinetry and wall panelling, inset with an internal clerestory window that lets light into the adjoining bathroom.
    Kitchen cabinets are painted in a powdery blue colourThe main living area features a vaulted ceiling lined with plywood. A concrete bench is positioned along one wall to support a tile-clad fireplace while a window behind looks onto the stairwell.
    The kitchen has cabinets and internal doors painted in a pale blue colour. A porthole window in this space also offers a glimpse of the spiral stair.
    The vaulted ceiling of the living room is lined with plywoodThe courtyard and garden at the rear of the building were also renovated as part of the project. This outdoor space can be accessed from the lower floor or via a new terrace outside the main living area.
    Byró Architekti was founded by Tomáš Hanus and Jan Holub, who studied at the Czech Technical University in Prague and worked in various practices before setting up their studio.
    The garden can be accessed via a new terrace outside the main living areaPreviously, the duo completed a cabin with a sweeping roof and red timber cladding in the Šumava mountains.
    Other renovations in the Czech Republic that have recently been featured on Dezeen include a 500-year-old home filled with contemporary furniture and a 1920s villa in Prague that was revamped by No Architects.
    The photography is by Alex Shoots Buildings.

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      ORA creates modern home in 500-year-old Czech Renaissance building

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      Czech architecture studio ORA has renovated a Renaissance-era house in the town of Český Krumlov, preserving original features like its carved wooden beams while adding free-standing contemporary furniture.

      Local entrepreneurs Petra Hanáková and Radek Techlovský purchased the dilapidated house in the town centre in 2016 and asked ORA to oversee a modernisation process that retains the interior’s historical character.
      Masná 130 is a renovated home by ORA in Český KrumlovThe 500-year-old building, now called Masná 130, had been neglected for decades and was not even connected to the town’s sewage system. It also had flood-damaged foundations and a roof in need of major repairs.
      Despite its issues, the owners saw potential in the property and spent two years transforming its ground floor into a cafe that has become a gathering place for the local community.
      The architects added bespoke furniture made from dark-stained birch plywoodThe latest phase of the project involved renovating the first-floor living spaces. The original intention was to redevelop them as rental flats, but Hanáková and Techlovský eventually decided to create a single apartment that they could occupy themselves.

      ORA’s design for the apartment reveals aspects of the building’s past while introducing modern features that reflect the owners’ love for contemporary design and minimalist style.
      The building’s original carved wooden ceiling beams are left exposed”We did not want to create a historical ‘museum’ interior, nor a design showroom,” said Hanáková and Techlovský. “We wanted to organically connect the historical and contemporary layers.”
      The architects began by removing an existing partition wall in the main living space and reinstating the original open layout. This created a large salon that reveals the full splendour of the Renaissance-era wooden ceiling.
      The kitchen was designed as a standalone unit that is raised above the floorThe restoration process also uncovered original stone walls that were painted a deep crimson colour. Together with the wooden rafters, this informed a material palette that complements these dark, saturated tones and creates a cosy atmosphere.
      The apartment’s bedroom features a small remnant of the original ceiling fresco. The rest of the room is painted a cream colour to lend the space a calm and relaxing feel.

      No Architects completes “seamless” revamp of 1920s house in Prague

      In the bathroom, ORA chose to combine cool colours with white tiles and large mirrors to brighten the space. Playful details such as the irregularly shaped bathtub, curved sinks and tiles with rounded edges help to soften the overall aesthetic.
      Throughout the apartment, the architects added bespoke freestanding furniture that performs the necessary functions without disturbing or concealing the existing heritage features.
      The bed is dominated by an oversized headboard”The interior design is approached as a collage of motifs,” said ORA. “The furniture is inserted into the historical space in the form of separate objects that create distance from the historical elements.”
      The kitchen, for example, was designed as a standalone unit that is raised above the floor and stops well short of the ceiling. Its sink, hob and countertop occupy a central void, with all other functions concealed within the cabinetry.
      It takes pride of place in the centre of the bedroomThe bed features an oversized headboard that connects with a wardrobe on its reverse side. It is placed in the centre of the bedroom and is angled to provide the best view of the window and the original painted ceiling.
      Custom-made furniture is built from dark-stained birch plywood with contrasting brass legs that help to enhance the sense of separation from the existing spaces.
      Lighting is either freestanding or integrated into furniture such as the kitchen unit and bed. An overhead light above the dining table is mounted on a bracket so it does not touch the historical ceiling.
      ORA combined cool colours with white tiles in the bathroomORA, which stands for Original Regional Architecture, was founded in 2014 by Jan Veisser, Jan Hora and Barbora Hora. The studio is based in the small town of Znojmo, with previous projects including the conversion of a 16th-century home in Mikulov to create a modern guesthouse.
      Other recent 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-year-old apartment in Karlovy Vary, where Plus One Architects uncovered the building’s original paintwork.
      The photography is by BoysPlayNice.

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      Dezeen Debate features a “clean” and “simple” revamp of a 1920s house in Prague

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      The latest edition of our weekly Dezeen Debate newsletter features No Architects’ “seamless” renovation and extension of a 1920s house in Prague. Subscribe to Dezeen Debate now.

      No Architects’ extensive revamp aimed to retain the character of the house, which was built in the 1920s in a romantic style that references arts and crafts-style English villas.
      “Our addition refers to the original facade details and is hardly recognisable as separate to the original house,” the studio’s co-founder Jakub Filip Novák told Dezeen.
      Commenters had nothing but praise for the project.

      “Love the clean lines, the simple gestures, the quiet flourishes,” wrote one. “With the historic muted greens and blues complementing the wood, it reminds me of Shaker modernism here in the States. Really beautiful spaces.”
      Sumu Yakushima is a co-operative housing project that supports humans and nature Other stories in this week’s newsletter include a “superbly configured” co-operative housing project in Japan, a roundup of the architecture projects not to miss in 2023 and a Zaha Hadid Architects-designed modular tent classroom for refugees.
      Dezeen Debate
      Dezeen Debate is a curated newsletter sent every Thursday containing highlights from Dezeen. Read the latest edition of Dezeen Debate or subscribe here.
      You can also subscribe to Dezeen Agenda, which is sent every Tuesday and contains a selection of the most important news highlights from the week, as well as Dezeen Daily, our daily bulletin that contains every story published in the preceding 24 hours.

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      No Architects completes “seamless” revamp of 1920s house in Prague

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      Czech studio No Architects has renovated and extended a 1920s villa in a Prague suburb, adding bespoke joinery and modern details that complement the original architecture.

      The studio headed by artist Daniela Baráčková and architect Jakub Filip Novák oversaw the modernisation of the property in the Smíchov district on the left bank of the Vltava river.
      The joinery on the ground floor was painted duck-egg blueThe extensive remodelling and extension aimed to retain the character of the house, which was built in the 1920s in a romantic style that references the steep-pitched roofs and brick cladding of arts and crafts-style English villas.

      No Architects removed all of the existing floors, ceilings and non-load-bearing walls of the semi-detached property and added a side extension to accommodate containing a ground-floor guest suite and a bedroom on the first floor.
      Bespoke joinery was added throughout the interiorThe extension utilises the same palette of clay roof tiles, painted brick and a pumice stone plinth in order to produce a timeless aesthetic that is in keeping with the original architecture.

      “Other contemporary extensions in this neighbourhood got very old very quickly and don’t fit in well anymore,” Jakub Filip Novák told Dezeen.
      “Our addition refers to the original facade details and is hardly recognisable as separate to the original house. The connection between the new and old parts is not just via design, but it seems seamless even by structure and same ageing of material.”
      The interior layout was reconfigured to modernise the villaThe revamped interior has a contemporary layout, with an open living and dining area linked to the adjacent kitchen. A new doorway in the rear elevation provides direct access from the kitchen to the garden.
      A custom-built unit next to the back door discreetly conceals a pantry and toilet, along with plenty of storage and space for the refrigerator.

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      No Architects designed bespoke joinery added throughout the house to make optimal use of the available space and to create a sense of aesthetic consistency between the various rooms.
      “The living space consists of many details and we like to frame them because it helps connect plenty of technology and infrastructure which surround us in any house,” said Novák.
      “It’s also an economic decision,” he added, “because every square metre of living space in Prague is expensive so it is rational to use it sensibly. We see joinery as part of such thinking, uniting architecture, construction and technology.”
      Green woodwork adds a splash of colour to the staircaseSome of the interventions were painted in pastel shades that add a distinctive character to the spaces. The upper floor and staircase feature green woodwork, while the ground-floor joinery is painted a shade of duck-egg blue.
      The clients spent part of their lives working in Japan and the United Kingdom, so some of the colours and details reference these experiences.
      The decorative panelling and exposed radiators on the first floor recall traditional British houses, while the minimal bench seating in the living room and the tiled porch evoke Japanese living.
      The studio designed built-in seating in the living roomA small door on the first-floor landing provides access to a previously unused space above the entrance that now contains a private play area accessible only by the children.
      Throughout the project, No Architects adapted existing features to give them a new purpose or to enhance the character of the building while ensuring it meets the client’s requirements.
      The bespoke joinery was designed to optimise space in the home”We work with intuitive ‘memory of architecture’ and aesthetics which belongs to the original era but we don’t follow it directly,” Novák added, “we just use it to make a nice place that makes the most of the potential which is in the atmosphere of the house.”
      No Architects’ founders met while studying at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. The studio combines the disciplines of art and architecture to produce detailed-oriented solutions that reflect their clients’ requirements and personalities.
      The photography is by Studio Flusser.

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