Rooftop extensions in Na Porici boulevard
location: Na Porici 1061 and 1062, Nove Mesto, Prague, Czech Republic
project: 01/2008 -
client: Meltex, s.r.o.
authors: Marek Chalupa, Stepan Chalupa
collaboration: Daniel Tvrdik, Tomáš Havlicek, Michal Rosicky, Tomas Horalik, Jakub Chuchlik
gross floor area of the rooftop: 647m2 - Na Porici 1061, 779m2 - Na Porici 1062
visualisations: Chalupa architekti, Vit Musil + Radim Petruska / miss3
We start from an idea of the natural essence of the city. A city that is still in a decent move, a city that is being updated and a city that still has an possibility of an unfinished development. Houses are protected, replaced, rebuilt and extended. Prague is a treasury of examples where the different building periods and styles are being stacked on each other, merged or overlapped. Former Na Porici boulevard is not an exception to the rule.
If we assume a natural evolution principle, then protection and development of any part of the urban structure are elementary parameters for its healthy existence. The protection and development are closely linked vessels, one without another creates an urban imbalance. It is naturally needed to approach valuable buildings with maximum sensitivity to ensure their protection and development. However the premise of needs of the unfinished developement must always remain as a starting point.
To the way of keeping of the development of historical buildings relates the politics of conservation of signatories of the Granada Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, signed by the Czech Republic in 1998. The signatories committed themselves to respecting the architectural and historical character of heritage and to promoting the use of protected goods regarding needs of contemporary life and to adapting the old buildings for new purposes, if appropriate.
The protection of historical cities means in the introduction and the definition of the International Charter for the rescue of historic cities ICOMOS measures necessary for their conservation, restoration, but also their continuous development and harmonious adaptation to today´s life. It states among the principles and objectives of the Charter that the interventions in historical quarters or cities must be carried out rationally, methodically and rigorously, with the exclusion of any dogmatism, with respect to specific problems in each particular case.
No. 1061/37
The proposal of a rooftop extension of the neogothic apartment house No. 1061, Na Porici Street 37, Nove Mesto, Prague (1861, Josef Kudlacek), which is a cultural monument, replaces the existing roof with a new contemporary three-storey structure, which does not exceed the footprint of the existing house. The rooftop extension does not develop the theme of the existing facade as a solid structure with openings. A compact volume with a fine structure, which is visually presented alike the original tiled roof, is created by the rooftop extension above the existing principle moulding of the house. The outer skin is created by unglazed metal net structure, which is an analogy to modern metal net structures from the period of the construction of the Kudlacek House (Greenhouses of Lednice Castle, Crystal Palace in London, University Library in Oxford). The existing roof will be removed and passportizated, individual parts will be numbered and it will be shown where and how it will be deposited. A new construction of an elevator shaft, which is newly founded and linked to the original gallery and to the new level of the rooftop extension, is designed attached to the courtyard facade of the street part of the house.
No. 1062/35
The proposal of the late classicist apartment house No. 1062, Na Porici Street 35, Nove Mesto, Prague (1846, J. Brenn) takes on the theme of the original solid facade with window openings and uses it, with a contemporary detail, for facades of the rooftop extension as well as for the roof skin. This new solid „roof-facade“ construction starts from the existing street façade in the place of the removed original principle moulding, it spans the entire building and fluently concurs into the removed original moulding of the courtyard facade. The roof-facade also integrates a new volume of newly added construction of an elevator shaft in the courtyard, in the corner of the street and the courtyard part of the house.
Both historical buildings are peculiar entities built in different times by different architects in different styles. Both rooftop extensions are designed separately, each as an independent work, using a different method of designing. Both are recognisably contemporary, but in different scales they take over some of specific features of the surroundings and the particular house or they respond to them. We convinced that the combination of contemporary methods with carefully weighed dose of analogy with the surroundings is correct and natural evolutionary step in building development of the site and also a contribution to the rehabilitation of the significance of the Na Porici boulevard.
location: Na Porici 1061 and 1062, Nove Mesto, Prague, Czech Republic
project: 01/2008 -
client: Meltex, s.r.o.
authors: Marek Chalupa, Stepan Chalupa
collaboration: Daniel Tvrdik, Tomáš Havlicek, Michal Rosicky, Tomas Horalik, Jakub Chuchlik
gross floor area of the rooftop: 647m2 - Na Porici 1061, 779m2 - Na Porici 1062
visualisations: Chalupa architekti, Vit Musil + Radim Petruska / miss3
We start from an idea of the natural essence of the city. A city that is still in a decent move, a city that is being updated and a city that still has an possibility of an unfinished development. Houses are protected, replaced, rebuilt and extended. Prague is a treasury of examples where the different building periods and styles are being stacked on each other, merged or overlapped. Former Na Porici boulevard is not an exception to the rule.
If we assume a natural evolution principle, then protection and development of any part of the urban structure are elementary parameters for its healthy existence. The protection and development are closely linked vessels, one without another creates an urban imbalance. It is naturally needed to approach valuable buildings with maximum sensitivity to ensure their protection and development. However the premise of needs of the unfinished developement must always remain as a starting point.
To the way of keeping of the development of historical buildings relates the politics of conservation of signatories of the Granada Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, signed by the Czech Republic in 1998. The signatories committed themselves to respecting the architectural and historical character of heritage and to promoting the use of protected goods regarding needs of contemporary life and to adapting the old buildings for new purposes, if appropriate.
The protection of historical cities means in the introduction and the definition of the International Charter for the rescue of historic cities ICOMOS measures necessary for their conservation, restoration, but also their continuous development and harmonious adaptation to today´s life. It states among the principles and objectives of the Charter that the interventions in historical quarters or cities must be carried out rationally, methodically and rigorously, with the exclusion of any dogmatism, with respect to specific problems in each particular case.
No. 1061/37
The proposal of a rooftop extension of the neogothic apartment house No. 1061, Na Porici Street 37, Nove Mesto, Prague (1861, Josef Kudlacek), which is a cultural monument, replaces the existing roof with a new contemporary three-storey structure, which does not exceed the footprint of the existing house. The rooftop extension does not develop the theme of the existing facade as a solid structure with openings. A compact volume with a fine structure, which is visually presented alike the original tiled roof, is created by the rooftop extension above the existing principle moulding of the house. The outer skin is created by unglazed metal net structure, which is an analogy to modern metal net structures from the period of the construction of the Kudlacek House (Greenhouses of Lednice Castle, Crystal Palace in London, University Library in Oxford). The existing roof will be removed and passportizated, individual parts will be numbered and it will be shown where and how it will be deposited. A new construction of an elevator shaft, which is newly founded and linked to the original gallery and to the new level of the rooftop extension, is designed attached to the courtyard facade of the street part of the house.
No. 1062/35
The proposal of the late classicist apartment house No. 1062, Na Porici Street 35, Nove Mesto, Prague (1846, J. Brenn) takes on the theme of the original solid facade with window openings and uses it, with a contemporary detail, for facades of the rooftop extension as well as for the roof skin. This new solid „roof-facade“ construction starts from the existing street façade in the place of the removed original principle moulding, it spans the entire building and fluently concurs into the removed original moulding of the courtyard facade. The roof-facade also integrates a new volume of newly added construction of an elevator shaft in the courtyard, in the corner of the street and the courtyard part of the house.
Both historical buildings are peculiar entities built in different times by different architects in different styles. Both rooftop extensions are designed separately, each as an independent work, using a different method of designing. Both are recognisably contemporary, but in different scales they take over some of specific features of the surroundings and the particular house or they respond to them. We convinced that the combination of contemporary methods with carefully weighed dose of analogy with the surroundings is correct and natural evolutionary step in building development of the site and also a contribution to the rehabilitation of the significance of the Na Porici boulevard.