The fundamental aspects influencing the design itself were the maximum permitted buildable area of the plot – 50 m², a relatively extensive building program including a 4–5 room layout with sanitary facilities and storage, and a sloping site overlooking a pond. In the existing condition, a cottage structure is located at the imaginary edge of the upper plateau.

The initial idea was to take advantage of the slope descending from the existing cottage and use it to our benefit—making the scale of the building appear more modest from the road, while more generous when viewed from the pond. By articulating the interior space in the form of a raumplan, three different floor levels were created: the entrance level, a lower living area with a room and bathroom, and an upper night zone with a bedroom and an additional room.

Through this principle, the house gains the advantage of the terrain functionally and smoothly connecting in height to the interior spaces of the cottage—both at the entrance and at the western terrace overlooking the pond. The internal raumplan, with a central vertical circulation core, creates imaginary lookout niches or small tower-like forms on the upper floor, each oriented in a different direction—east and west. This results in a play between two opposing roof planes.

The entire house is clad in overlapping charred timber boards. On the southern and northern façades, the boards follow the plane of the roof, reinforcing the fundamental concept of the building’s massing.

The site is located by Mlýnský Pond in the village of Mšec near Rakovník. The site slopes from east to west down toward the pond’s shoreline. Currently, there is a recreational building with a pitched roof on the property. The elevation difference across the site, from east to west, is just under seven meters.

The site is accessed from the east via a private road, and it is surrounded by mature greenery on the southern and northern sides. In the lower part near the pond, there is a fire pit and a pier.