Papundekl Architects' modular forest home

Papundekl Architects has built a modular timber home in a South Bohemian village. The Prague-based studio designed the single-storey house with a tilted, north-facing facade of large glazed openings to connect the interior with the adjacent forest.

Studio co-founder Jan Bárta told Dezeen the core concept was to channel the immersive experience of the forest directly into the home. The expansive glazing on the northern elevation dissolves the boundary between living spaces and nature, making the forest a continuous backdrop.

Modular Structure and Budget

The home is contained within a modular timber structure arranged on a two-metre grid. A mono-pitch roof tops the building, which is clad with pre-weathered metal. According to Bárta, the material palette was driven by local context, availability, and cost efficiency.

He explained that highly cost-effective elements like the monopitch roof, asphalt roofing membrane, and standard thermal insulation blocks offset the cost of the glazed facade. The sloping facade itself avoids expensive custom solutions by using a standard commercial glazing system typically reserved for office buildings.

The strict budget encouraged the use of local, readily-available materials like timber and standardised glass. Pragmatically, the strict repetition of partition walls, structural framing, and glass panels minimised material waste and significantly reduced construction costs.

Interior Layout and Rhythm

Inside, the spatial layout follows the two-metre-wide modules. The living spaces and bedrooms each occupy two modules, creating four-metre-wide rooms.

Service zones, including the entryway, utility room, bathroom, and storage spaces, are limited to single, two-metre wide bays. A corridor links all the spaces, stretching along the open-plan kitchen and living area at the centre of the home to bedrooms at either end.

Bárta said the modular layout establishes a clear spatial rhythm and internal order. It alternates between active living zones and functional service areas to dictate the choreography of movement within the house.

Light-coloured walls complement the exposed wooden structure inside. This creates a simple material palette, backed by expansive views of the forest through the glazed facade. A more-traditional facade overlooks the street at the front of the home.

The photography is by Alex Shoots Buildings.