R13, Jan Vondrák, Marie Vondráková

10.05.2024, Marie

What about it? The plot on which we're building our house is quite small and steep. At the lower part of the plot stands a non-functional transformer station, which isn't historically significant and is positioned rather illogically, diagonally, like a discarded giant sugar cube. Therefore, our initial thoughts leaned towards demolishing it. However, its fate doesn't look as tragic now as it might have seemed at first.

Friends often asked us what it's like when two architects design a house. We had the design figured out in no time. We quickly named motifs from places we love. We know very well what we need and, more importantly, what we don't need. But the transformer station posed the most intrigue. This white cube has massive concrete foundations, solid brick perimeter walls, so demolishing it would be quite unnecessary and expensive. We considered various options from demolition, reconstruction into a rentable tiny house, bike and ski storage, a future refuge for parents, to the option of living in the transformer station ourselves until the new house is built.

We have everything drawn on paper and have thoroughly explored different scenarios. This preparation for our own home is probably the most demanding and enjoyable. Opening up the palette of our future life, yet not clinging too tightly to anything. Meanwhile, we've developed a relationship with the transformer station. It's like a tick on Dorka's fur coat that we've grown accustomed to.

So, we'll fix it up! My dad takes it the worst; he'd prefer to blow the tick up with dynamite and build something "sturdier" and, above all, not so skewed in its place on the plot. But we like it that way. Architects prefer to solve a problem rather than remove it. It's the right thing to do—economical, ecological, and logical.

The transformer station will serve as a workspace and accommodation for all visitors who won't feel like going home after dinner at Dorka's. It will be accessible through a large French window. We'll hang some paintings on the wall that we received from friends at our wedding or my Bianchi road bike. After all, it's better to look at it than ride it. The facade will be made of fire-burnt wood, and on the roof, which will be accessible via a narrow bridge, we'll place a small garden accessible from the upper level of the garden. Whether it's herbs or currants, I'm really looking forward to it. So, I just hope that over time, my dad will come to appreciate the transformer station, and we won't fear finding only smoldering rubble from an explosive blast instead of a garden cottage upon returning home every time.

01.05.2024, Jan

"Captain's Log, Stardate 01052024 Preparing to detach saucer section so that families and the majority of the ship's company can seek relative safety while the vessel's stardrive containing the battle bridge and main armaments will turn back and confront the mystery that is threatening us."

The trees are budding with leaves, and the birds in the morning are so loud they could drown out Laco Deci during his early morning press-up exercise. Meanwhile, the foundations have risen on the plot. As soon as the Tatra truck arrives with the concrete and pours a few cubic meters for the rough slab, the timber construction in Olešnice will be ready. Under the foundation slab, the sewerage is already laid out, and water and electricity are also routed in the foundation strips. In recent days, we've been finalizing the last details for production to ensure that the ABB sockets and switches are in the right places. The construction with admitted CLT panels is strict. It doesn't allow for leaving things to later, as the socket positions are milled into the panels during production. So, everything must be double-checked, and then we proceed to production! The slab will be poured this week, and by the second half of May, there will be photos with a crane and wooden panels. I'm terribly excited, but at the same time, I have concerns. It's a good therapy. At night, I wake up from dreams and repeat to myself: "Everything will be okay."

27.03.2024, Jan

After several months, we finally obtained the issued building permit, and on the very same day, excavation began. If you have backfill on the plot, the foundations must be anchored into the natural terrain below it. When you have three meters of backfill, you have to dig darn deep to get down there. So, our plot looks like a copper mine somewhere in northern Mongolia. Fortunately, there's only loam in the backfill, so digging is going quite smoothly. The troublemakers are the granite boulders that need to be excavated, leaving behind giant craters in the pit. A small and steep plot isn't exactly ideal for construction logistics, and poor Aleš from 1ku1 is on the site three times a day to address every issue on the fly. Meanwhile, structural drawings are being finalized in Nema so that the timber frame construction can go into production. Onward we go!

13.03.2024, Jan

This is the first entry of the construction diary. The diary will guide you through the construction of a small house named after the spoiled but cute Dorka terrier. Villa Dorka will be small and cute, just like my mom's little dog.

Nothing is happening on the construction site yet, but things are already happening behind the scenes. Last week, we went to Valašské Příkazy and inspected the windows they manufacture there in Janošík company. With Jakub Janošík, we pondered how to make the windows as beautiful as possible. As Kuba says: "It has to work!"

Birch trees are already sprouting on the plot, as if they wanted to be there when the excavator bites into the ground. As soon as the building permit becomes legally effective, we will embark on a great adventure.