The unobtrusive town house, dating back to the turn of the twentieth century, underwent complex reconstruction between 2009 and 2011 when many changes were made not only to its facade and small courtyard but also to the interiors of the first floor and attic, designated for renting out. Designers from the design studio ellement in Zlín addressed the task of creating a distinctive project with a clear vision: to keep the modern features – forms, colours and materials – meticulously separate from the high quality features of the building and its interiors.
Seen from the town square, the building's modern architectonic “entrance” is betrayed only by a trio of sheet-metal clad attic windows with corner glazing, and two new square and rectangular shaped windows in the gable end which, in form, complement the existing circle of windows at the top of the gable. These, together with the attic windows, offer views out over the Town Hall Tower which dominates the town square.
Likewise, the dismal courtyard underwent a complete transformation, in the process gaining new paving and an expansively glazed, wood-clad annexe serving as a shop offering health care products. The angled facade of this annexe works together with the unequal heights of the surrounding buildings, as the existing outbuilding on the west perimeter of the courtyard was significantly lowered, thus giving a greater impression of light and space.
The interior of the house, except for the ground-floor pharmacy, has been adapted to contain three flats, accessible from an elevated, covered walkway in the courtyard. A common motif for these flats is their distinctive colour scheme, which also served as inspiration for their naming: red, green and yellow. The core feature of each flat is the kitchen and bathroom furniture, inserted into the layout as removable units. The yellow flat project was especially a challenge for the designers who had to come to terms with the complex construction of the roof trusses, a result of the irregular floor-plan of the building. The architects managed to retain a significant amount of the original wooden elements whilst accentuating the new ones with white wood-stain. Simultaneously, the designers utilized the height of the trusses and divided the space into two levels, exposing the natural materials – wood, Marmoleum flooring and uniquely structured clay plasters. A cut-out at the lowest point of the roof construction serves as a terrace linking up to the kitchen and inside living area.