Krč Terraced Twins

The steep slopes of Prague's Krč district, rising from the Kunratický potok (brook) towards the north above today's south junction motorway, were still a hundred years ago the territory of vineyards belonging to a small village called Lower Krč and a few isolated farmsteads. In the first half of the 20th century, the vineyards were parcelled out for the construction of family houses and villas with gardens, but over time, a very diverse development emerged in the complicated terrain. Typical for the area were pairs of plots on the slope below each other, the upper one accessible from the north, the lower one from the south. The second half of the 20th century brought the construction of apartment buildings of various types to the area, and the plot on which we were tasked with designing a new house was cut off from its southern access. This created an unusual situation in the area with a relatively deep plot with a height difference of over 10 metres, which was only accessible from one side. The new building replaced an older, dilapidated, and repeatedly rebuilt family house that stood in the upper part of the plot and had no car access from the street. It was built at a time when the street level was different, but during later road modifications, the sidewalk along the property ended up more than 1.5 meters below the new street level, and the house thus had no driveway. Part of the project therefore involved adjusting the level of the sidewalks along the property so that they were level with the road and the surrounding area.