A Beautiful House Hidden Behind A Large Concrete Wall

This sleek and modern home sits in place of a 100 year old house with a traditional design and a gabled roof in Liberec, the Czech Republic. It was designed and built by studio Mjölk architects and it actually reuses the basement section of the original structure, being built on top of it and using it as a foundation.

The rest of the old house was in bad shape and had to be demolished. The stone basement was worth preserving, hence the difference in style between this section and the newly-added wooden volumes sitting on top. A key design feature of this project is the concrete wall which sits between the house and the busy road. It looks a bit like a fake facade, a mask that the house is hiding behind.

Behind the concrete wall is a small yard which acts as a buffer between the road, the entrance, the guest house and the rest of the green areas. The old stone basement now holds the living spaces which extend into the new section built on top.

Large glazed sections connect the indoor spaces to the yard and reveal serene views of the valley below. The newly-build part of the house is divided into two modules: a family home and a guest house. They both have black wooden facades and together with the stone volume add up to 271 square meters of living space. Inside the volumes are modern with Nordic influences and industrial elements. One of the living areas harmonizes these styles seamlessly, featuring a stylish Eames lounge chair paired with a minimalist light grey sofa, a wood-burning stove and industrial light fixtures, all on polished concrete flooring.