ARCHITECTURAL
PORTFOLIO
DENIS MATĚJÍČEK
SELECTED WORKS

05 Location

It is an urbanistic-architectural study of the Home for the Elderly and the Home with Special Care.

The plot is located in a residential area in the city of Ostrava on a flat land with a total area of 8 341 m2, there is a primary school for physically disabled children with an area of 2 926 m2. On the plot there are a large number of regulations, existing networks and protection zones.

The remaining area that can be used for new development is only 1 252 m2.

06 Genius loci and chosen materiality

There is a church, several small parks and good civic amenities nearby. The future potential of the site is in the area of the Ostrava lagoon with the Hrabůvka heap, here after cultivation a pleasant recreational area could be created connected with the rest of the development.

07 Contextual diagrams

The advantage of the plot is in the amount of greenery, this plot is separated from the surroundings by a number of trees and shrubs on almost all sides of the plot boundary, creating a pleasant natural indoor atmosphere.

The orientation of the plot is ideal in terms of sunlight exposure, and the surrounding buildings are sufficiently distant from the property line and do not cast any shadows on the plot.

08 Situation plan

These are two typologically simple houses, turned 90° from each other.

The mass of the seniors‘ home lies longitudinally with the axis of Na Mýtě Street and serves as a sound and visual barrier to the surroundings; together with the mass of the Special care building, it creates an enclosed private courtyard surrounded by buildings and greenery.

The mass of the future building aims to clearly define the individual functional zones of the plot, respecting the street line of the adjacent buildings while respecting the height and typology of the surrounding buildings, mainly residential buildings.

09 Outdoor space

The outdoor space is designed variably. The layout of walking areas and the location of an endless walkway are proposed. All areas within the protection zones of existing utilities shall be demountable to provide access in the event of utility failure and necessary repair.

The common outdoor space shall be dual use. In the morning it is used for children of the special primary school U Haldy, after school hours it is then used for the Home for the Elderly and the Home with Special Care.

10 Comunity spiral of the retirement home

The design of the retirement home works with the motif of a continuous semi-public space that wraps around the entire building from the outside like a "spiral." This space - a combination of a gallery, residential terrace, and architectural promenade - is the true heart of the building.

It is not just a communication corridor, but a shared residential "ring" where residents naturally meet each other, their families, and visitors from outside. It creates a framework for everyday encounters, small rituals, and spontaneous social interactions that are the basis of community life.

This retirement home works with the motif of an unbroken line – a community space connecting all residents. Through architectural intervention, a purely monofunctional communication zone becomes a multifunctional platform:

a place for rest, meetings, small activities, potted gardens, or observing what is happening in the neighborhood.

This "community spiral" is the added value of the design – it creates a bridge between clients, their families, and the public. It helps reintegrate seniors into social and community life: not only can they meet their friends, but also their friends' friends, neighbors, and visitors. The common space thus becomes a distinctive architectural motif and a social tool that transcends the standard typology of a retirement home and brings a new, more open and dignified model of communal living.

11 Added value

The rooms offer a comfortable living space with added value, with open galleries around the perimeter of both buildings to extend the living space, serving as community circulation corridors as well as natural shelter from the sun. This ensures the addition of a 2 x 5 metre outdoor living area to each room where users can relax, meet others, receive visitors, look after their own greenery in planters, and use these pavilions as „endless walkways“ at each floor level without having to move to the communal garden on the 1st floor. These pavilions shield the building against direct sunlight with semi-transparent screen blinds that react to the movement of the sun with a light sensor and provide a pleasant semi-shade in the space between the facade face and the actual glass panels of the individual rooms.

12 View from the room

Design was created to offer as much space as possible to the users of individual rooms and common areas on a relatively limited usable area.

13 Layout of the rooms

The layouts of the individual rooms were designed to be flexible, allowing for accommodation for either one or two people as needed. An important feature and added value of the rooms is that each unit has access to an outdoor living area. The interior space is easy to navigate and features an abundance of natural light, which can be adjusted as needed. The building’s overall structural system consists of transverse walls spaced 5 meters apart and is designed to be as simple as possible to construct.

23 European and urban context

Kopřivnice is located close to the Silesian Metropolitan region - a catchment area in the south of Poland and north-east of the Czech Republic. Its main centres are Katowice and Ostrava, and counts up to 5.3 million inhabitants, roughly twice as many as the Prague Metropolitan area.

The Kopřivnice Museum thus has the potential to become attractive destination for visitors from the wider area, and bring a greater level of tourism to the town.

This city is well known for the Tatra car factory, the second oldest car factory in the world. This company has significantly influenced the development of the town and its urban structure.

24 Range and location

The main aim of the study is to renovate the Tatra Car Museum building in the center of Kopřivnice, but from an architectural and urban planning perspective, it was necessary to extend the area to the immediate surroundings, of which this building is an important part. Therefore, the design subsequently included a new parking lot, a connecting footbridge, and a public space to revitalize the city center. The town centre, located to the west of the Tatra site, is made up of buildings with civic amenities which only partially enclose the newly reconstructed square.

The building of the Tatra Car Museum is located at the imaginary entrance to the centre, is the dominant visual element that should give the visitor a clear initial signal drawing attention to the importance and representativeness of the area.

26 Genius loci

The materiality of the facades is based on the closest surroundings - vertical ceramic cladding on the cultural building House or Hotel Tatra co-creates the character of the area, as well as the newly renovated town centre, which has been given a primarily concrete appearance with elements of greenery.

27 Exterior concept board

With an emphasis on unifying the façade, the cladding element was used in white, which will maintain the design concept while creating structural differentiation of the parterre along with some of the pre-set volumes and the remaining façade. In addition to the connection with the surroundings, practicality will be ensured by the washability of the parts of the façade that come into frequent contact with the human factor and the weather. The use of a uniform white colour will result in visual unification and clean and simplified lines.

„For me, white is the most beautiful colour, because you can see all the colours of the rainbow... White has always been a symbol of perfection, purity, clarity... On a white surface, the play of light and shadow, surfaces and notches can be best understood“.

29 Concept of development

For economic reasons, with the idea of the overall future development of the city in mind, a phasing of the proposal was created - from a reduced reconstruction of the existing museum to the construction of a parking house for visitors to the centre and the relevant urban catchment area.

33 South-west elevation - comparasion of the original and new state

Building modifications following the reconstruction of the existing building, including the demolition of the existing extension and the construction of a new representative extension on the original foundations, whose form will create a positive dominant feature of the entrance to the city, connecting the public space with the interior of the building through glass surfaces and offering a partial view of the exhibits in order to attract more visitors to visit the museum.

35 Sections

The newly designed extension is characterized by an aerial, open space, which is intersected by multilevel exhibition areas that offer visitors a view of the exhibits from above and up close. A newly designed elevator has been installed to make all levels accessible, and its glazing maintains the airiness and clarity of the space.

38 Conceptboard of the museum interior

The interior design is based on the exterior design concept - everything that is existing and permanent remains white, in keeping with the principle of clean white architecture. New elements added to the interior are, by contrast, black. The exhibits and visitors themselves bring a sufficient amount of color to the interior.

56

The revitalization created a modern cultural complex connecting the Czech Stage, the Polish Stage, and Bajka with the new Cieszyn Theater and Cultural Center.

This project was very complex, and we were involved in all phases. As the project’s lead architect, I developed the revitalization concept and the architectural study. In collaboration with our firm, we then prepared the construction documentation for the building. We also designed the interior and prepared the interior construction documentation, including the graphic design and implementation of the building’s wayfinding system.

The revitalization of the Těšín Theater in Český Těšín involved a comprehensive structural and technological renovation of a cultural facility of regional significance. In just 14 months, the interiors of the theater, the observatory, and the outdoor courtyard areas were modernized.

Special emphasis was placed on the acoustic properties of the spaces - acoustic flooring, slatted and custom wall panels, and special suspended ceiling systems were used to ensure optimal acoustic comfort. The revitalization also included the renovation of the observatory, including the refurbishment of the dome and its drive mechanism, thereby preserving the building’s unique function.

Summary of interventions

Comprehensive Renovation of a Major Cultural Landmark in the Region: The revitalization project modernized a cultural institution of city-wide and regional significance and strengthened its role in the Moravian-Silesian Region

Exceptionally Short Construction Period: The renovation work was completed in approximately 14 months, which is an exceptionally efficient timeline for a project of this scope and complexity.

Creation of the modern TDKC cultural complex: The project created a contemporary cultural complex connecting the Czech Stage, the Polish Stage, and Bajka with the new Cieszyn Theater and Cultural Center.

Modernization of Interiors and Improved Comfort and Accessibility: The renovation included a new stage, elevation of the auditorium floor, installation of an elevator, and comprehensive accessibility modifications for people with limited mobility and orientation.

State-of-the-Art Acoustic Design: Special attention was paid to acoustics - acoustic flooring, slatted and custom wall panels, and special suspended ceiling systems were used to ensure optimal acoustic comfort.

Renovation of the observatory as a unique landmark of the building: The revitalization also included the renovation of the observatory, including the refurbishment of the dome and its drive system, thereby preserving the building’s unique function.

57

Between 1960-1961 the Těšín Theatre moved to the present, then newly constructed modern building. Designed by architects Zdeněk Vávra and Jaroslav Černohorský, a modern yet intimate theatre space, which was a simple megalomaniacal tendencies that in the socialist era accompanied buildings of a similar orientation. In the 1960s the service buildings, such as workshops, were added, warehouses, offices and garages, creating a clear and purposeful complex.

62 AR

We bring together architecture, design, and technology.

With my colleagues at Profure studio, we connect architecture, design, and technology through augmented reality. For us, AR is not just an extra effect, but a tool that expands the perception of space with an additional layer of information, atmosphere, and story. Instead of receiving only an architectural booklet and a PDF file, clients get an augmented reality application that allows them to walk through a virtual environment and explore every detail of the project.

Within the application, they can access information not only about the individual floors of the proposed building, but also about specific residential or commercial units intended for sale or lease. This technology gives clients stronger support in communicating their vision to future investors and project partners.

63 Location

This is an architectural study of two buildings, a new residential and an office building on Cihelní Street in Ostrava.

The main aspects of the design were to create an enclosed secure area to be used for administration and housing. The current aim was to revive and give the necessary impulse to the now forgotten Cihelní Street area, which has a rich history and currently high development potential.

The design responds to the history of the site, the wider and closer context, the overall setting of the building in its surroundings, such as in particular the connection to the original visible block system of the site, the resemblance to the existing historical and industrial buildings and the appropriate orientation of the individual buildings to the cardinal points. The design took advantage of the flatness of the terrain and the opportunity to work with the space of the courtyard, which plays a significant role in the design and creates an internal enclosed area.

64 Historical context

The aim was to revive and give the necessary impulse to the nowadays forgotten location of Cihelní Street, which has a rich past and at the same time high development potential.

Historical aspects of this locality have significantly influenced the design, both in terms of form and the materials used. Cihelní Street in Moravská Ostrava is a historic thoroughfare lining former ponds and the Mining Railway line. Originally an industrial area, it became home to the Jiří Mine (1898-1927), whose listed building still stands today, and from the 1920s onward, it housed warehouses and operational buildings.

Building on the original design, we chose red concrete and corten steel as the primary materials for the project.

The original historic housing development on the site had to be demolished due to its poor technical condition.

65 Conceptual diagrams

An important aspect of the design process was the implementation of the building into the surrounding development. It was necessary to perceive the local context appropriately. The site is characterised by two types of development. The original, historic residential development and then an industrial, partly industrial to urban and architecturally characterless fragmented development of warehouses and company headquarters, which is intended to be reviewed through a planning study. The subject site is located exactly midway between these two types of development. The proposal responds to this fact by the scale, massing, roof type and different function of the individual proposed buildings.