Vladimír Bacorík is a sculptor and glassmaker who has been working in apartments in the residential area of Prague, so he wanted to design a glass workspace for a complete redevelopment. What he didn't want was a door. This unusual task had a valuable potential to produce unusual solutions, and we decided to use it as an experiment: how likely is a classic prefabricated apartment? How far can we go?
The goal of the project is to utilize a hybrid typology and achieve the highest degree of freedom, light, and generosity. To achieve this, the project was designed with a focus on U-shaped glass, a unique material that offers a striking solution. The boundaries and functions of the plane and the material are blurred: the maximum open and flowing space without a door is separated only by an arched half-section of U-shaped glass. These high-order, translucent glass blocks ensure the penetration of light. Their materiality and character naturally echo the work of the client's life.
In addition to structural stability, infrastructure is also a key design constraint. Thus, the central point of the nerve becomes the connection between water and sewage, which defines the location of a separate almost enclosed space. Therefore, the most prominent element is the vault of the bathroom with a toilet and shower. For reasons of waste management, it is housed on a small platform, subtly emphasizing its spatial dominance.
The floor plan consists of three open U-shaped glass curves that unobtrusively define the cloakroom, storage room and workspace, in other words the kitchen. The rest of the space is freely adjustable between these glass lines, preserving the space for any future interpretation. We follow our favorite principle of unity and clarity that spaces provide context for the lives of their inhabitants (in this case, mainly work). We also follow our second favorite principle, which is to remove everything that does not carry a load and does not violate the law.
The rectangular plan, "window to window", is crossed by a reinforced concrete load-bearing wall with two openings, which, thanks to its privileged position, is the only element that strips us of its material essence and makes it a pillar of the identity of the place. On the other hand, the rest of the walls and ceilings were left in plain white plaster – we were not interested in the mannerism of concrete, nor did we want to compete with elegant glass or create spaces that were too enclosed. The place where the water comes into contact is defined by a dirty white mosaic. Spacious kitchens, which make more objects than meals, are specially designed to functionally adapt to their primary purpose. The character of each space is emphasized by the type of lighting fixture used: strict lines or loose spotlights.