Huť Architektury Martin Rajniš s.r.o.

Post Office Sněžka

Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova
Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova

POST OFFICE SNĚŽKA

Hut Architektury Martin Rajnis

LOCATION
Czech Republic

MANUFACTURERS
AGC, Alkoplan

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Martin Rajniš, Patrik Hoffman, Jan Mach, Tom Plzenský, David Kubík, Josef Franc

YEAR
2007

AREA
112 m²

CATEGORY
Other Public Administration Buildings

Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova
Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova

Text description provided by architect.

It’s hard to find a more difficult place for building a house than the peak of Mt. Sněžka.

Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova
Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova

Wind speeds reach up to 250 km/h, winter temperatures hit record freezes, it is the most strictly protected zone of a national park.

How to build in such a locality without spending excess money, and create a house that would remain in the minds of the people who visit?

Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova
Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova

This building is a cousin of the storage depots of Amundsen’s or Scott’s polar expeditions or the houses that you see in Greenland or the Spitzbergen Islands.

It enters on tiptoes into the national park: it is of wood and glass, standing on delicate metal supports.

Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova
Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova

In the harshest winters, it is completely closed off behind interior insulation slabs – shadowboxes – and exterior blinds, which protect it from flying bits of rock and ice.

Its outdoor staircase reminds you that you are climbing to the highest point of the Czech lands. An environmentally friendly wooden building, respecting nature, humanity, and the majesty of the mountains.

Post Office Sněžka
© Andrea Thiel Lhotakova


Post Office Sněžka
Plan and Elevations
Post Office Sněžka
Site Plan

Huť Architektury Martin Rajniš s.r.o.
T +420 2 24313634
Huť Architektury Martin Rajniš s.r.o.
Úvoz 228, 118 00 Malá Strana, Czechia