In a small village near Plzeň ( = Pilsen: famous for its beer) , on a steeply sloping plot framed by open landscape and a mature pine forest, we designed a home for a young family that seeks calm, privacy, and a deep connection with nature.
From the very beginning, the proximity of the forest was not only a highlight of the site but a defining force of the entire project. The house by the forest quickly became one of our most compelling designs.
The eastern edge of the plot is bordered by a protected forest zone where no construction is permitted within 10 meters. Instead of treating this regulation as a limitation, we embraced it as a primary architectural motif. The oblique line of the protection zone shaped the geometry of all floors and became a compositional spine of the house.
Working With a Steep Slope
The land falls toward the north, while the forest rises along the eastern boundary. The investor’s wish was clear:
design a home that blends into the natural character of the site, offers framed views of the forest and valley from the main living areas, and ensures privacy from the single neighbouring plot to the west.
The interplay between the slope and the invisible forest buffer suggested a departure from a conventional orthogonal plan. Instead, the house is structured around a series of refined, scythe-shaped polygons. The resulting 70-degree angle brings a subtle spatial tension—distinct enough to feel unique, yet calm enough to remain comfortable and domestic.
The house unfolds over three levels, each with its own spatial logic and functional character. The lowest underground floor connects to the driveway and contains a generous garage, the main entrance, technical facilities, and a compact spa opening onto the terrain.
Terraced Living: The Above-Ground Floors
A key architectural strategy is the system of receding floors that follow the natural contour of the steep terrain.
This cascading form creates:
vertical connections that feel intuitive and fluid,
terraces visually anchored in the landscape,
planted zones that come right up to the living spaces,
carefully sheltered private areas as part of the whole composition.
The first above-ground floor is dedicated to daytime living. A spacious living room opens with full-height glazing toward the forest, while smaller, directional windows frame the terrace and swimming pool. Above part of the terrace, the cantilever of the second floor forms a naturally shaded outdoor seating area.
The top floor accommodates the family’s private zone: parents’ suite, children’s rooms, and a study. All three floors are linked to the garden through terraces and outdoor living areas, enabling a continuous circulation and maximising the connection between interior and landscape.
Materiality That Belongs to the Forest
A major design consideration was selecting materials that allow the house to blend respectfully with its surroundings while retaining a quiet architectural identity.
The final palette combines:
exposed concrete,
darker natural wood,
aluminium windows,
and abundant vegetation.
Concrete, made from mineral aggregates, sand and gravel, introduces a robust, timeless quality. Its texture will evolve with the climate and seasons, gradually merging the house even more with its natural context. We believe concrete, when used with sensitivity, is one of the few materials that truly ages with dignity.
Wood, one of the oldest building materials, is used here primarily decoratively rather than structurally. Its warmth softens the massing of the building and creates a tangible dialogue with the forest.
The third essential component is vegetation. The terraced form offers ideal conditions for planted areas, from integrated linear beds to cascading climbing species. As the greenery matures, it will soften the edges of the terraces, blur the boundaries between architecture and garden, and animate the house with textures that shift through the seasons.
A living green façade is a quality that no manufactured material can replicate—always changing, always alive.
A Home Growing From Its Landscape
House by the Forest is a project shaped directly by its environment—by slope, regulations, light, and above all by the presence of the pine woodland. Rather than dominating the site, the house becomes part of it, growing in terraces along the terrain and dissolving into the forest edge through texture, material and vegetation.
It is a home defined by nature, yet firmly contemporary in form and concept—calm, intimate, and deeply rooted in its place.
