Custom villa projects demand extended collaboration between architects and clients, particularly when the design prioritizes spatial quality over standard room layouts. A small family house in the village of Černín, Czech Republic, demonstrates how a nine-year design process produced a residence organized around a single continuous interior space, with color and materials treated as secondary to the volumetric experience. The method shares common ground with Tuscan villa home construction design features, where spatial flow and material authenticity drive decisions rather than cosmetic trends.
Space as the Central Design Concept in Villa Architecture
The foundation of this villa’s design traces back to an exhibition project titled Space House, presented at Prague’s Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in 1999. The exhibition was organized by four architects–Petr Burian, Jan Šépka, Tomáš Hradečný, and Petr Hájek–who demonstrated six different spatial conceptions of houses to argue that space is the most neglected quantity in contemporary architecture, often overshadowed by light, material, or formal composition.
The Space House Exhibition Argument
The exhibition argued that architects commonly prioritize light quality, material selection, or structural expression while treating the volumetric arrangement of rooms as a default outcome of those other decisions. The Space House thesis inverted this hierarchy: spatial arrangement should drive the design, and light, material, and structure should serve the spatial concept. This approach resonated with the future villa owner, Michal Čillík, who attended the exhibition and later commissioned the same architects for his own family house.
Translating Exhibition Concepts to a Built Home
The transition from an exhibition concept to an inhabited house took nine years of joint discussions, reflection, and iterative solution-finding. The final design retained the exhibition’s core principle: the interior space is an open, continuous volume that runs uninterrupted through the building. This untraditional scheme was derived from two basic aspects–the client’s specific wishes and the architects’ conviction that space should be the primary material. Consider how historic Tuscan farmhouse stone villa restoration approaches deal with similar questions of spatial continuity when adapting old structures to modern living requirements.
| Design Phase | Duration | Key Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Initial concept exhibition | 1999 (event) | Space House exhibition presented six spatial models |
| Client-architect discussions | ~5 years | Concept development and program alignment |
| Design development | ~3 years | Detailed spatial planning and material selection |
| Construction documentation | ~1 year | Technical drawings and permit processing |
The Long Design Process With Custom Villa Clients
A nine-year design process is uncommon in residential architecture, where most projects complete design and permitting within 12 to 18 months. The extended timeline in this case reflected both the complexity of the spatial concept and the context of Czech residential architecture at the turn of the century, where most potential builders focused their interest on substandard catalogue production.
Context of Czech Residential Architecture in the 2000s
At the time Villa Hermina was being designed, there were still very few quality family houses in the Czech Republic. The relative ease of purchasing a standard house project and the speed of its construction led to sprawling residential development around cities without the imprint of an architect or urban planner. Catalogue designs offered convenience but produced repetitive neighborhoods that did not respond to site conditions or client lifestyles. The Villa Hermina client specifically rejected this approach, choosing instead the longer path of a fully custom design.
Managing Client Expectations During Extended Design
Custom villa projects that extend beyond standard timelines require clear communication about milestones and decision points. Regular site visits, material samples, and incremental mock-ups help clients visualize the spatial concept before construction begins. The Villa Hermina architects maintained client engagement throughout the nine-year period by presenting iterative spatial studies rather than jumping directly to finish selections or furniture layouts.
- Establish a shared design philosophy early in the process to guide later decisions
- Present spatial studies in physical models or full-scale mock-ups where possible
- Reserve finish and material decisions until the spatial design is fully resolved
- Document all client-architect discussions in written summaries to maintain alignment
Open Interior Spatial Arrangement
The central architectural feature of Villa Hermina is its internal spatial arrangement. The carcass of the interior is an open, continuous space that runs uninterrupted throughout the building. This is not simply an open plan in the conventional sense–where rooms are combined by removing walls–but a deliberate volumetric composition where each zone flows into the next without abrupt transitions.
Colour plays only a secondary role in defining spatial boundaries. The architects used the same finish materials throughout the continuous volume so that surface changes do not carve the space into discrete rooms. Instead, changes in ceiling height, floor level shifts, and subtle changes in natural light intensity signal transitions between functional zones. This approach is comparable to what multi-story villa floor plans for coastal Mediterranean living achieve with different architectural means–creating spatial flow through careful volumetric sequencing rather than door placement.
Structural Columns as Spatial Markers
Where columns or structural walls occur within the open volume, they are treated as spatial markers rather than obstacles. A column near the transition between living and dining zones, for example, becomes a reference point that the eye uses to register the change in function without needing a physical partition. The columns are finished in the same material as the surrounding surfaces, so they read as integral elements of the space rather than interruptions to it.
Light as a Spatial Definition Tool
Without walls to define room boundaries, natural light levels must vary between functional zones so occupants subconsciously recognize transitions. The living area receives direct light from large south-facing windows, while the dining zone is illuminated by softer north light through clerestory openings. This differential allows each zone to have its own character despite the continuous volume. Comparing strategies with Mediterranean villa floor plans for 5-bedroom luxury estates shows how different architectural traditions achieve similar spatial differentiation through light and volume manipulation.
Material and Color Restraint in Villa Interiors
The limited material palette of Villa Hermina is a deliberate consequence of the spatial-first design approach. When the volumetric experience is the primary design concern, materials must not compete for attention. The architects specified a narrow range of finishes–white plastered walls, concrete floors, and select wood accents–applied uniformly across the continuous interior.
How Material Uniformity Supports Spatial Reading
When every surface in a space uses the same finish, the eye cannot anchor on material changes to segment the room. The occupant experiences the volume as a whole before noticing individual elements. This effect is heightened by the absence of decorative trim, baseboards, or crown molding–details that would create horizontal lines breaking the visual continuity. The result is a space that feels larger than its physical dimensions because there are no visual cues that define its boundaries.
| Surface | Finish | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Walls | White plaster, trowel-finished | Reflects light evenly, no texture variation |
| Floors | Polished concrete, light gray | Thermal mass for passive heating, continuous surface |
| Ceilings | White painted gypsum | Uninterrupted reflective surface |
| Select accent walls | Oak veneer panels | Warmth in specific zones without pattern |
The limited palette also simplifies maintenance and future modifications. A new owner can repaint or refinish any wall without needing to match complex color schemes or material transitions. For design teams working on similar custom projects, Mediterranean villa design floor plan construction techniques demonstrate how material restraint and structural clarity combine in a different regional tradition to achieve comparable spatial generosity.
Site and Village Context Considerations
Villa Hermina sits at the very end of the small village of Černín. The location presented both constraints and opportunities. At the edge of the village, the house has access to open countryside on one side while maintaining connection to village infrastructure on the other. The design responds to this edge condition by orienting the continuous interior space toward the landscape view while keeping a more closed facade facing the village street.
The building form respects the village scale without mimicking local vernacular styles. It achieves contextual fit through proportion and massing rather than decorative references to traditional architecture. The roof profile, window proportions, and overall building height align with neighboring structures, while the material palette and spatial concept are clearly contemporary.
- Edge-of-village sites allow one open facade toward the landscape and one closed facade toward the street
- Building massing should match the scale of adjacent structures even when the architectural language differs
- Window proportions aligned with neighborhood patterns improve planning approval outcomes
- Roof profiles visible from the street should harmonize with surrounding buildings
The villa demonstrates that a small family house can achieve architectural significance through spatial intelligence rather than size or elaborate materials. The open continuous interior, achieved after a nine-year collaboration between client and architects, produces a living environment that feels expansive without being large. The restraint in color and material selection allows the spatial experience to dominate, and the edge-of-village site provides a landscape connection that enriches daily life. For homeowners considering similar custom approaches, reviewing four-bedroom Mediterranean villa design floor plans with grand entries offers a contrasting perspective on how different spatial priorities–monumental entry sequences versus continuous flow–shape the villa experience at a similar scale.