Built by Jaro Krobot, this project was an exciting exploration in material innovation. By using new building technology to recreate a traditional home, the atmosphere of the surrounding area was preserved.

This house in Lučatín, a small village in central part of Slovakia, was completed in 2014. It sits on the site of an older home that had become dilapidated beyond repair. The current wooden house reproduces the footprint of the former house, following the traditional floor plan of the area.

There were set limitations with the construction: care was taken to maintain an existing stone wall and the surrounding coniferous trees to preserve the landscape. Demolishing a barn in the back of the property opened up new views of the road and hills without changing the general layout of the home.

All efforts were made to reuse materials from old buildings and barns in the village. While not everything could be created from recycled materials, all the suppliers were sourced from the surrounding area.

One major innovation was a Swiss process called STEKO, developed with ETH Zurich. These are bricks made of solid spruce wood, which can be filled with different kinds of insulation. All wooden sections of the home were built in five days.