On the lower part of the main Masaryk Square in Iglava, Czech Republic, rises a building known as the ‘Silver House’. It is one of the most valuable architectural heritages, under conservation protection. Even from the outside, it impresses with its historic façade, but it is only when visitors step inside that they discover what really sets this place apart.
The history of the building dates back to the Renaissance, when a modular spatial layout was formed here. Subsequent bourgeois conversions in the 18th and 19th centuries somewhat obliterated the original clarity of the plan, sometimes introducing clumsy solutions. During the recent revitalisation, however, the original universal floor plan was restored, flexible enough to cope with future changes in function. The design for the changes was prepared by architects from Atelier Štěpán.
The interior of the building was divided vertically into zones with different purposes. The basement is filled with an exhibition of unique archaeological finds, including tools for minting silver coins from before 1300, discovered in the courtyard. The entrance leads to a tourist information point and a cosy tea room. The upper floors include a fifty-seat concert hall, two smaller rooms with colourful historic polychromes and dedicated office spaces.
The most prominent motif in the interior is a palette of silver tones juxtaposed with shades of grey. The metallic-pearl finish appears in the acoustic concert hall, on stylised cookers and wall decorations. The stonework exposes stainless steel in new inserts, while tinned details are a nod to traditional craftsmanship. The choice of silver is also a reference to the renaissance heyday of mining – the origins of the tenement go back to the 13th century, a time when Igawa became an important mining centre thanks to the extraction of this ore. Anyway, in the underground storey you can feel like you are in a mine!
The reconstruction of the roof is an example of the subtle dialogue between old and new. The original truss from 1893 was structurally flawed and did not transmit lateral forces well. The new truss was retained in its original roof shape, only slightly raised. A horizontal window strip was introduced just above the cornice – a rhythmic reference to the classical architectural division. Discrete roof windows were integrated into the slope covered with a silvery standing seam of sheet metal.
On the garden side, a modern, cubic annex of dark concrete and steel mesh was erected in place of the former courtyard wing. The redesign of the courtyard allowed the technical facilities to be relocated outside the historic block. This section housed a winter garden, a tea room and a staircase connecting the old and new parts of the building, lit by daylight through a skylight in the roof.
Accessibility is a priority – at the core of the plan is the lift, whose glass has not been finished traditionally, but only tinted with pigment. Each floor reveals a different layer of the building’s structural history.
Finally, the ascetic-traditional material palette is worth mentioning: mineral plaster surfaces covered with lime paint, stone, wood and terrazzo floors, historic and modern wooden windows, roof trusses, sheet metal roofing and a concrete annex. The interior of the Silver House is not just a journey through the centuries, but a dialogue between history and the present, where a love of silver unites generations of architects and craftsmen.
design: Marek Jan Štěpán – Atelier Štěpán
photography: Filip Šlapal, www.filipslapal.cz
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