Under The Calvary 2.0

The architectural proposal responds to the need for a sensitive completion of the prominent corner formed by Štefana Majora Street and Kaplnská Street in Veľké Úľany, in close proximity to the national cultural monument of the Calvary. The project aims to establish a stabilizing urban element that connects the gradually emerging civic center of the village with the existing surrounding urban fabric.

Respect for the existing street lines, neighboring scale, and operational relationships of the adjoining streets forms the basis of the urban concept. The building mass reacts to the varying intensity of the public realm — an active ground floor is oriented towards Štefana Majora Street, while Kaplnská Street accommodates vehicular access and servicing. The corner itself is conceived as a transitional threshold between public and residential functions, creating a spatial gradient from the exposed urban environment towards the more private character of the plot.

Architecturally, the proposal draws from the archetype of a traditional hipped-roof house, reinterpreted through a contemporary architectural language. A compact volume positioned along the street lines is gradually articulated into the visual perception of two separate buildings connected at a single point. This “open corner” defines a small public forecourt — an intimate square articulated by a solitary tree serving both compositional and microclimatic functions.

At ground-floor level, the design reinterprets the traditional veranda typology through a covered colonnade that shades the glazed surfaces while establishing a rhythmic transition between exterior and interior spaces. The rational structural rhythm reinforces the legibility of the parterre and contributes to the human scale of the public environment.

Materially, the project is based on a monochromatic approach in which diverse textures and surfaces are unified within a restrained color palette. Coarse plaster, timber cladding, and standing seam metal roofing emphasize the plasticity of the volumes and enhance the interplay of light and shadow. This reduced material expression allows the proportions of the building, the rhythm of the façades, and the transparency of the ground floor to become more pronounced.

Designed within a low-energy to passive-energy framework, the building integrates centralized and decentralized heat recovery ventilation systems, roof-mounted photovoltaic panels, and rainwater harvesting with subsequent reuse, contributing to the overall environmental performance and long-term sustainability of the project.