When Prague-based architects SGL Projekt were commissioned to revitalize a farmstead near the town of Semtín, Czech Republic, they looked to the farm’s immediate environment for inspiration. Specifically, they looked atop the chimney of the 90-year-old distillery, where a stork nest took pride of place. And so a spectacular riding arena was designed – a horse’s nest constructed from 200 tons of interwoven oak logs that each measured between four and eight meters. With it, Stork Nest Farm was born.

Though the site is a working farm, the agriculture operations – from animal breeding to the tending of its 90 hectares of land – are not for economic profit but to attract guests to the unusual business conference retreat. As such, accommodation, presentation facilities and a restaurant sit in harmony with a piggery, stables and farm machinery. “The Stork Nest Farm should serve for work and recreation, mental and physical progress of the visitors,” explains SGL Projekt. Audi is just one of the clients whose employees have benefited from professional presentation retreat at the farm.

Central to the ‘farm therapy’ philosophy was the striking nest-like riding arena. “It became a symbol of the symbiosis between man and animal,” says SGL. “The arena’s appearance evokes the stork’s next, a symbol of home, safety and security.”