Dror for Hunters Hills

How can a neighborhood immerse residents in both solitude and community?
 

The studio was invited to participate in a closed competition to create a new residential development on a site approximately 20 kilometers southeast of Prague.

Given the location’s proximity to the Czech capital, I reasoned, its residents will likely work in the city but want to escape the bustle of metropolitan life at home. Instead of providing a typical suburban experience, I wanted to devise a new kind of living quarters that provided tranquil solitude as well as community. To achieve this, I decided to create an authentic experience with nature—the ultimate retreat—by rethinking how public and private spaces relate to their surroundings.

In studying the site, we realized that its undulating topography could be used as a tool for our architectural strategy: roadways and green roof-covered residences could be strategically arranged within the land’s curves in a way that facilitated unobstructed views from every vantage point. Our master plan for Hunters Hills ultimately utilized the staggered terrain in this way, where each residence is tucked into the landscape and oriented to maximize views based on its location. Instead of looking out onto clusters of buildings, all one sees is an oasis of lush vegetation.

Terraces, landscaping, and ample green space around each residence further produce harmony between structure and landscape. We created restaurants, a wellness center, school, hotel, and other structures based on this logic, plus seven typologies for houses, one of which is the Eco House. As the only residence with a pitched roof, and therefore the only visible residence, the Eco House serves as a quiet sign of life amidst Hunters Hills’ camouflaged built environment. Pitched roofs also cover commercial buildings, defining them as spaces for community and commerce rather than private dwellings.

Structures supplement the existing topology in our vision for Hunters Hills, transforming it into an extended landscape for living.

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