Warm minimalism for a young family: a 130 m² townhouse near Prague in Nová Květnice

The brief

A two-storey townhouse of about 130 m² in the residential district of Nová Květnice, some 20 km east of Prague. We took over the house as shell & core: concrete walls, a concrete ceiling and nothing more. Nothing was demolished, but everything else had to be designed from scratch: lighting, electrics, air conditioning, storage, furniture.

The budget was mid-range and set right at the start. Move-in was planned for mid-summer.

The challenge: go from the first sketch to handing over the keys in seven months. Design took 2.5 months, construction the rest.

Main idea

The house as a soft shell for the family: everything is put away, leaving light and quiet. The developer handed us a concrete box, a shell. Our task was to turn it into a soft shell where nothing gets in the way.

Solutions

Layout

The developer's layout worked, so we changed just one thing. The walk-in wardrobe on the upper floor opened onto the stair landing. We closed that opening and created an entrance from the bedroom instead. The parents now have a private wardrobe next to their bedroom.

Kitchen and living room

This is the heart of the house. The irregular U-shaped kitchen flows into an island with a bar counter. Next to it stands a large oval table. The client wanted both a bar and a full-size table, and we managed to combine them without crowding. The TV zone is visible from both the table and the bar, so the whole space works as one. The family cooks every day, so function matters more than show:

• a 70 cm wide fridge instead of the standard 60;
• a tall unit for the oven and microwave;
• between them, a floor-to-ceiling pull-out larder accessible from both sides.

Storage

We turned the long corridor from the entrance to the living room into the main storage system of the house. All wardrobes, here and in every room, reach the ceiling, with no dust-collecting shelves and no empty gaps above the doors.

Hidden technology

The kitchen has an 80 cm hob with integrated extraction ducted outside through a shaft. There isn't a single hood box above the island. In the large upstairs bathroom, all the house's technical equipment is gathered along one wall behind doors: the boiler, washer and dryer, and storage for toiletries. Air conditioning works in almost every room, and the outdoor unit is on the roof.

Materials and an honest budget

We set the budget in advance and chose materials within it, instead of cutting the project back later.

Flooring

vinyl flooring in a greyish walnut tone. It withstands children's toys and dog claws and works well with underfloor heating.

Kitchen fronts

super-matte Egger PerfectSense with anti-fingerprint protection. In a home with a small child, this saves hours of cleaning.

Worktop and island

ceramic in a white Calacatta marble décor. Unlike natural stone, it resists stains and heat.

Walnut

the reddish walnut the client loves was brought into the furniture as high-quality laminate. It gives the house warmth.

Bathroom

Grohe sanitaryware in Hard Graphite brushed, in one consistent style; Imola tiles.

Lighting

The large living room windows run the full length of the room and face a private inner garden, not the street. There is plenty of light during the day. In the evening, a layered system switches on: hidden lighting in the ceiling, track and spot lights, soft backlighting of the curtains and selected wall sections. Cashmere-beige walls keep this light even and warm.