A Green Core Unlocks Critical Space in a Family’s 570-Square-Foot Prague Apartment

Even on a rainy day, Nina and Marek don't worry about feeling cooped up with their two-year-old daughter in their renovated Prague apartment. Despite being less than 600 square feet, the flat feels much larger thanks to its smart space-saving design. "Nothing feels cramped, our child has room to move and play, and features like the mini-pool bath make it feel like a real home rather than just a compact one," says Marek.

Nina, a musician, had been living in the apartment for several years before the couple decided to build a life together there. Later, expecting a child, they called on local studio Architéka to update the cramped and divided flat. "They were looking to start a new chapter in their lives," says studio founder and principal Tereza Komárková. Wanting a more open feel, they sacrificed one of the flat’s three bedrooms, removing a wall and turning the area into an open-plan kitchen and living room. To keep some separation, Komárková placed a green box at the center of the flat, which integrates the kitchen, a wardrobe, and floor-to-ceiling storage on all sides. "It saves space and maximizes it," she says.

But the box also facilitates circulation. "You can walk, or run, in a full circle around it," says Marek. "It gives the whole apartment a sense of openness and flow, rather than feeling like a series of closed-off rooms. Our daughter has turned it into a racetrack. On rainy days when we can’t get outside, it keeps her happily busy." Pocket doors, another space-saving move, can tweak the layout for privacy: one can close off the living room and kitchen from the guest room—what will one day be the couple’s daughter’s room—and the other closes off the guest room from the hallway leading to the bathroom, toilet, and primary bedroom.