Conversion of Former Granary
Type
Residential buildings
Place
Křenovice
Year
2021
We have equipped
Luxury living in an old granary
There are days when our work really warms our hearts. We had this feeling with a granary refurbishment project in Křenovice. We were given the task of turning it into loft apartments in an industrial style.
Granaries. One of the most important farm buildings where grain supplies were stored for the years crops failed. Granaries are still a dominant feature of many villages, and the same is true in Křenovice. The granary here is one of the tallest buildings in the village. It’s interesting that it still serves its original purpose today – tons of sunflower seeds are stored there.
The investor has big plans for the granary in Křenovice. It decided to build small loft apartments in an industrial style in it. In addition, it wants to add a luxury apartment building to the granary. Due to the large number of flats, the building will equal the granary in volume and create an impressive pair in a black & white style.
We conceived the building as a merging of two 5‑storey blocks with a common central corridor. The first block consists of the original granary building, the second is an additional building.
The shape solution respects the existing form of the granary, naturally follows on from it and further develops it in the form of a new building in the southern part of the area with a similar shape. Both blocks were connected by a central corridor, which functionally connects the individual operational units, but also helps to visually make the building smaller.
The result is a clean and simple modern building that responds to operational requirements in terms of size and orientation, while at the same time enriching the area with modern forms. Thanks to the height of the building’s ridge, which is 16.7 m, the building naturally complements the original granary. The building modifications thus do not conceptually disturb the local development, but on the contrary naturally complement it.
The layout of the individual apartments is based on the building’s character. While the original granary building has relatively low floor heights, the extension of the new building is standard in terms of heights.
Mostly small flats or accommodation units for short-term living were created in both buildings, while the extension also houses classic apartments of all size categories. The exception in both buildings is the top floor, which is allocated to more spacious three-bedroom or maisonette two-bedroom apartments in both cases.
The Křenovice Granary study assumes the preservation of the existing skeleton system, perimeter and ceiling structures. The new structures will be made of ceramic blocks for the perimeter and partition structures. We proposed insulating all the perimeter structures with an external contact insulation system. The new horizontal load-bearing structures, including the staircase, will be monolithic.
The colour and material design is based on the desire to create a structure that respects the granary building’s original appearance and at the same time shows the new building in a non-violent contrast.
The central connecting corridor with wooden lath cladding and the loggia in the extension with earth-toned cladding are distinctive accents. All other visual elements, especially metal ones, will be designed in an anthracite shade corresponding to the shade of the metal roofing.