“The ŠTAJNHAUS has not been a project, the ŠTAJNHAUS has been a process,” explains Czeck architecture studio ORA.

The existing house with a Renaissance core stands at the foot of the chateau hill, in the former Jewish quarter of Mikulov (Nikolsburg). Throughout its existence, it has suffered great many scars, having undergone countless reconstructions and renovations. All of these interventions altered the house beyond recognition, yet the building somehow managed to maintain its presence.

Once the process of stripping back began, ORA reached what they refer to as ‘puddingstone’. “The more individual layers, spaces and surprising circumstances we uncovered, the more revisions and alterations we had to make in our project; and this lasted, in fact, until the end of realisation,” share the architects. “In the beginning, we did not have a clue where we would come to in the end.”

ORA wanted to preserve the house as an organic unit. “You will not find a straight wall or a rectangular opening in the house, so we had to reinvent and remake to measure all the elements to meet the compliance.”

Originally, ORA’s job was just that of interior design. Gradually, however, the studio realised that the interior and exterior could not be solved separately, as the space and the shapes tend to blend together to create an indivisible unit.

Eventually, ŠTAJNHAUS has been turned into a boutique guest house, with one part used as a private flat for the owner. Each room is unique, with its own individual atmosphere. In addition, the wine cellars under the house have now come back to their original use. Cheers to that.

 

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[Images courtesy of ORA. Photography by Martin Tůma, Jakub Skokan / BoysPlayNice.]

 

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