When it came time to design our own studio in Prague, we treated ourselves as the client and kept the brief honest. The space should work the way we work: open, thoughtful and built from natural materials. We designed it and built it ourselves, and every decision was a small statement about the kind of architecture we believe in.
The studio sits behind a tall glass front that opens straight onto a paved courtyard. After dark the whole interior glows through the glazing, and anyone passing by can see desks, plants, curtains and people at work. We liked that openness from the start. An architecture studio should not hide behind a closed door, and the large windows bring in plenty of daylight for the long days spent over drawings and models.
The plan is one continuous floor organized around how a design team actually spends its day. Two long rows of shared desks sit at the center, close to the light. A meeting room enclosed in glass and a soft lounge occupy one end, while a full wall of shelving runs along the other side as a library and material archive. Small rooms for storage and services are tucked into the back. Between them, large planters and heavy curtains on ceiling tracks divide the floor without closing it, so the room can change from quiet concentration to a busy presentation in a few minutes.
Before adding anything, we cut everything to the bone. The ceilings were scratched back to raw concrete, old tiles were removed, and the concrete floor was sanded and left exposed. The concrete block walls stayed as they were, with their rough texture and visible joints. Instead of covering these surfaces, we let them become the background of the studio. Ducts and cable trays run openly under the ceiling, and the honest grey shell gives the rest of the materials something to play against.
Plywood is the warm counterpoint to all that concrete. We used it for nearly all of the furniture and joinery, from tall wardrobes and storage walls to the reception desk and the canopy that hangs above it. The reception is a simple plywood volume with the archicraft name cut straight through the front and lit from within. Above it, the plywood canopy carries the lighting and ventilation, with rows of slotted vents and small white downlights set into the underside. The kitchen next to it continues the same language, with dark cabinets framed in plywood, open shelves for cups and bowls, and a strip of light under the upper units.
Along the long wall, a grid of plywood shelving holds our library: books on architecture, sample folders, catalogues and years of project binders lined up by number. Some compartments are closed with dark panels to keep the wall calm, and even the fire equipment is built neatly into the system. Facing the shelving, the desks run in a long line, and our logo glows from a plywood panel on the wall. It is a working room first, and everything a designer needs is within reach.
To complement the concrete, we added a glass partition framed in slim black steel. It encloses the meeting room and the lounge behind it while keeping the view through the whole studio. A tall pivot door in the same steel grid swings open to join the two spaces when needed. Long grey curtains run along the glass and can be drawn for privacy during a client meeting, or pulled back to open everything up again. Inside, a round high table with stools and a deep lounge chair offer a more relaxed place to talk.
Finally, we softened everything with plants. A green wall of climbing plants grows up the white paneled wall behind the lounge sofa, and large flower pots with tall leafy plants stand between the work areas. They bring color, life and a little fresh air into a space made mostly of concrete, glass and wood. The lounge corner, with its grey sofa and small round table, is where the team can take a break, shares an idea or simply has a coffee.
The small details tell the rest of the story. A bicycle leans against the reception desk, a glass carafe sits on a worn grey counter, and the soft daylight moves across plywood and concrete through the day. Nothing in the studio is precious, and that is the point. The space is meant to be used, marked and lived in. It reflects how we like to design for our clients: strip a space back to what is real, add only what is needed, and let natural materials and good light do the work.
Project Information
Client: archicraft
Type: Office, studio interior
Place: Prague, Czech Republic
Realization: 2020
Photography: Tomas Dittrich
