Forked framework

Klokočná is a small village southeast of Prague, only a 30-minute drive from the Czech capital. With just 280 inhabitants, it is a quiet rural hideout while remaining close to the city. In this setting, a new family house combines traditional proportions with a modern concept, offering more space than its exterior suggests. “When designing, we tried to preserve the values of the place as much as possible”, describe Martin Junek and Adam Cigler of Chrama studio.
 
The neighbourhood consists of varied single-family homes, so the architects adapted the design to local proportions. Seen from the street, the house appears small and reserved, allowing only a few glimpses into the interior. Towards the garden in the south, though, it opens into a generous three-storey family home with windows looking out onto the green.

To achieve this illusion, they divided the masses into two parts, each oriented into different directions and provided with different functions. Like a tree with a forked branch, the house unfolds into two volumes. Following this idea, the architects named the project “Branched”, ensuring privacy while offering the best views into the landscape. The front wing holds the entrance hall, sanitary rooms, and a roofed terrace facing the street, naturally shading the interior. Upstairs, one large hallway window sits between bedrooms whose windows face the sides, avoiding noise and views from the road.
 
The rear wing contains the main living spaces. Since the plot slopes towards the garden, the architects could hide a full storey in the slope, accessible from the backside of the house. “We ensured the house appears smaller than it actually is”, the architects explain. Unlike wide bungalows that have reshaped the Czech countryside since the 1990s, this house respects traditional proportions. 

For the structure, the architects chose Porotherm 30 Profi clay blocks with additional thermal insulation; the internal partitions are made of bricks from the same series with a thickness of 14 cm. The smaller brick provides sufficient soundproofing while allowing slim walls and an ideal use of inside space.
 
The roof is covered with Tondach Biber tiles, one of the oldest and most important roofing materials in history, to match the traditional tone of the village. Solar panels were placed on the terrace roof to preserve the clean silhouette of the main roof while supplying energy to the house.
 
“We wanted to show that a modern family house can be integrated into a rural environment. Its shape follows traditional narrow footprints, but it uses modern materials and technologies”, says Cigler.