Underground utilities? The island house doesn’t need them. It’s going to be built in 2018



How can we solve the housing issue in an original way? Maybe in the same way as thirty year old Pavel Podruh who has decided to organise a student competition titled "Czech Island House". He would like to change the thinking of building and create a house independent of underground utilities.

Pavel Podruh, originally from Český Krumlov, has gained numerous life experiences in the USA where he studied for several years. In addition to education in international management, he obviously also acquired the famous drive and vision that nothing is impossible. Thinking about his own housing led him to the idea of a student architectural competition titled Czech Island House. He managed to implement the first year which sparked considerable interest. The plans for building the first Czech island house are outlined as well as another year for the competition. This is what it looks like when dreams come true.

The Czech Island House, in 2nd place, designed by Martina Urbanová and Šimon Jiráček

What is the purpose of the Czech Island House competition?

The aim is to help open a broader discussion on a more sustainable and thriftier way of life. I’m deliberately saying a MORE sustainable and thriftier, everything has its individual steps. For this purpose, we have chosen the slightly extreme situation of an island house, i.e. a house independent of underground utilities and services so we can better explain to the public that it is possible even without forceful restrictions to our habits. For more sustainable housing we don’t have to disconnect from the utilities immediately, but we can gradually begin to make better use of the principles that we learn or rediscover thanks to the island buildings. That’s also one of the reasons that our first prototype will be made publicly-accessible. The way that has been logically chosen for its creation began by addressing students of architecture and construction, through our competition since they are the future career ambassadors of these ideas. The origination itself, implementation and then the operation will be one great educational opportunity one day, not only for the public but also for students and professionals.

What exactly does island house mean?

We could have a very professional discussion on this topic since the opinions are different, rigid and more open. We perceive the "islandness" as complete self-sufficiency in terms of utilities, water and waste management. At this moment we’re not concerned about food self-sufficiency, it can be additionally created in certain forms according to the life philosophy of a particular user. However, I think that it’ll be a good topic for us in the future within the Czech Island house project. In other words, we don’t use that term in a rigid sense, we try to bring it closer to people as a partial solution to the demands of our way of life in the surroundings. Individual elements can also be applied in normal buildings connected to utilities, the important thing is to talk about them.

The competition is intended for graduate students of architecture. Why have you focused on students and not graduated architects?

I more inclined to students, I was one of them myself not long ago. I believed in their fresh look, new ideas and that’s exactly what they came up with. They’re not so used to saying that something is impossible and that’s what I like about them. Students are the roots of architecture and generally it makes sense to me to start from the roots.

In the first year of the competition you have addressed the Faculty of Construction at the University of Civil Engineering in Prague and the University of Technology and Economics in České Budějovice. How did they receive you?

The co-operation has been great from the beginning, our idea was immediately accepted. Apparently, we must have chosen something that is missing. Of course we were prepared and had a fairly clear vision, the competition was compiled according to the regulations of the Czech Chamber of Architects and there was also the auspice of the Ministry of the Environment. It’s also probably due to our readiness that the schools joined us and provided to us with absolutely great liaison co-workers. Namely, the deputy head of the Department of Civil Engineering in Prague, Eng. arch. Jana Hořická, Ph.D. who is also the main professional manager of the project and her brother Eng. Jakub Hořický from the University of Technology and Economics in České Budějovice.

The Czech island house, in 1st place, designed by Daniel Brída

The Czech Island House competition 2016 was a test grade. Were you satisfied?

When we started the competition, the project sparked big interest among the students. Actually, it was completely beyond our expectations. We received hundreds of questions on our info email address, which is positive and at the same time quite stressful. The first year was carried out on a small scale and we didn’t expect such large scale interest. This screen is evidently quite uncompromising, the task is very demanding so a large number of students simply didn’t dare to tackle the solution. This is indeed good. Finally, 12 complete projects arrived and we selected five to continue, then in the second round they fought for a final ranking. Everything can be viewed on our website. We would also like to welcome students from the Technical University of Brno, Faculty of Architecture and the Technical University in Liberec to the Czech Island House competition 2017.

The basic task – independency on the underground utilities - is a tough one. How did the students cope with it?

Firstly, within the competition we organised several workshops on various technological topics, which I think is in itself quite useful for students and the truth is the task was a challenge even for experienced architects and I often heard: "Wow, that's hard one", but that's the thrill of it. Eventually, the entire jury consisted of Eng. arch. Aleš Brotánek (Passive House Centre), Eng. Jan Bárta (Passive House Centre), Eng. arch. Štěpán Mančík (UCEEB Czech Technical University in Prague) and Eng. arch. Jana Hořická, PhD. who was surprised by the quality of the students’ proposals and their sophistication. I'd like to thank all our jury for the huge amount of energy and insight, they are enormously professional.

The aim of the competition, however, is to build an island house. When are you going to start with the construction?

The final implementation is scheduled for the spring of 2018 and two self-sufficient (island) separate suite units are going to be built. I used most of my personal savings for it and the rest we try to draw through various partners. Regarding power engineering, we co-operate with GWL Power which famously assists us with the acquisition, storage and management of electrical energy throughout the building. We don’t have a penny from European or state funds. I'm really looking forward to 2018 because I'm going to help from start to finish of the construction on the site, so I really could know everything about the buildings and experience it myself. Eventually, the project will be open to the public, so that it can be tested and they can discover that there is almost no difference to everyday housing and spread the word among their friends. That is our mission.



You chose two first places. What will the final project look like?

Back to the reality. After the end of the competition, land-use planning regulations for the intended land for our construction began to shape. We have therefore chosen a team of three students who we approached to participate in the next phase which was realistic and a possible island concept according to the building conditions of the state government. The resulting construction project is therefore created together by Vojtěch Lichý (architecture), Petr Pávek and Markéta Fraňková (technology, construction) which we flexibly supplement by top experts from various technological and construction areas. It's hard work and I really have to take my hat off to the students, they are fully engaged. Therefore, the final proposal will be based on the intersection of students and professionals, which was my dream.

What will be the parameters of the house?

It will be two separate, self-sufficient units, each with around 130 square metres of living space, so classical smaller housing for a family of 4. The architectural form will be friendly to its environment and it will be a modern view of a timber house, since we also strive for a skilled partner in this area who will harmonise with our way of thinking.

What are you working on at the moment?

We are working intensively on our smaller team and we move the project forward step by step. There is really a lot of technology, ways of thinking, construction methods and architectural forms. Yet one must maintain the philosophical certainty. We try to find our red line in this mosaic. Specifically, we are already approaching the visualisation stage, next time I'll have pictures for you. The technological scheme also starts to have specific outlines. Brick by brick.

Czech island house, in 2nd place, designed by Teresa Čivrná and Markéta Fraňková

What technologies would you like to use?

It is not just about the modern way, in some areas we go back to peasants, functional principles. We’re definitely going to use solar panels in combination with LiFePO4 batteries for energy storage, it was a clear choice. We are also preparing a water recycling system and its sophisticated cleaning. I could go on, the project is a mathematical equation in which the variables change and the result looks accordingly. I don’t want to go into unnecessary technicalities. I believe that after their completion the buildings will speak for themselves.

Some might argue that building an island house will be as much or more energy-consuming than the operation of normal house.

I've got such an objection a couple of times. I'm thinking of it this way – there are professors who lecture about the ecology around the world and carry out commendable work, but necessarily due to their frequent overflights there is quite a substantial carbon footprint. On the other hand, each of the lectures can be far more socially beneficial in the long run just by talking about the topic, so they form a layer of people who will think slightly thriftier. Our building serves as evidence, psychological evidence of the fact that it is possible to make a step towards a more sustainable direction and the more we talk about it, the greater the pressure will be on companies and governments to come up with such solutions. In this, I see the usefulness of the Czech Island House project, we try to help accelerate this process. No need to wait.

How has the idea of the Czech Island House originated?

Sometime around 2011, I started thinking about how I imagine my future home, what my visions are regarding the way I want to live and approach economy. At the time I encountered with Michael Reynolds Earthships, which I thought were brilliant but for the majority a little too alternative. So I looked further and couldn’t find anybody who would conceptually deal with it in the same context as how I was thinking of it. Maybe I wasn’t looking correctly but this led to the fact that I started the Czech Island House project.

Czech Island House, in 1st place, Vojtěch Lichý

The real emergence of the project can be dated in the first six months of 2015. What did you do in between?

I travelled a lot, I saw a big piece of the world. I sang in a band and worked in a managerial position in Prazdroj Pilsen with offices on Wenceslas Square. Very briefly said. Everything brought absolutely amazing memories and experiences and I am thankful for them.

You studied international management and business administration, worked as a brand manager in a corporation. What does architecture mean to you?

Architecture is the starting point for private thinking about our own private lives and the approach to it. It's a philosophy to a certain extent, as we spend most of our lives in buildings. We consume a lot and gradually destroy the nature, not trying to scare you but it's a fact. I believe that architecture has the power to gradually correct some of our split social ills. It turns out that way about which we think within the Czech island house is also interesting for other people. Even if we were just a drop in the ocean, I would still believe that it is important.

Were you also interested in architecture in the USA?

At that time I didn’t care so much. I was too young so I was more interested to see if it was possible to see under skirts of the cheerleaders (laughing). The local environment to some extent did changed my personality and I will always consider the leave to gain experience as the best step. The crucial thing I learned there was basically to stop looking for reasons why something cannot be done and I began to seek ways how to do it. It might sound like a cliché but looking back, I really do perceive it like this now.

What will you do when the house is completed?

Primarily I’m going to be very happy and then I’m also going to blog, inform, take pictures and shoot videos about life in an island house and especially continue in the entire project. It makes sense.


Czech island house, in 2nd place, designed by Petr Čmelík and Martin Stark

Source: www.archspace.cz

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