Family vacation together, but separately? A house that responds to such a need was designed in Bory Tucholskie by the Poznan office trabendo. This year-round, forest-surrounded asylum is to be a safe haven for a multi-generational, artistic family of "townspeople."
The blocks of the house are offset from each other
Photo credit: PHOTOGRAPHERS Justyna Kwiatkowska and Piotr Folkman © trabendo.
Surrounded by a forest, the one-story house with a mezzanine is formed by three solids merged with each other - the central, tallest one, finished with black sheet metal and obscured by a pent roof, is the heart of the house. It is here, on the first floor, that the common area with kitchen and large dining room is located. Just above it, on a mezzanine floor, is the parents' bedroom. Smaller side blocks, whose facades are clad in wood, house an independent apartment for the grandparents (with a separate entrance, kitchen and bathroom) and an area with children's bedrooms. The alternating arrangement of the blocks, their slight displacement in relation to each other, contrast in the materials used and the directions of the roof pitches make the block of the holiday home blend in with the surrounding terrain.
functional diagrams
© trabendo.
Łukasz Nowak of trabendo studio talks about investors' expectations, design decisions and material solutions.
Ola Kloc: What expectations did the "middle-class" family for whom you created this house have? Did they want to transfer some urban amenities to it, or did they want a retreat surrounded by nature?
Lukasz Nowak: The idea was to create a house - an asylum, at the interface with nature, allowing an effective release from the daily hustle and bustle.... The house was to be a place of rest, but also to meet the criteria of a space that would allow an artistic couple to work.
Ola Kloc: What is the reason for the disjointed shape?
Lukasz Nowak: The fragmentation of the block is due to several reasons: it reflects the division into zones for individual household members - the space of parents, children, grandparents and a common meeting area for a multi-generational family. In addition, the smaller blocks refer to the existing, neighboring rural buildings, which are quite compact in scale and often have a similar disjointed layout.
site development scheme and projections
© trabendo.
Ola Kloc: You opted for wood and corrugated metal facades - what determined this choice?
Lukasz Nowak: Together with the Investors, we decided that these were the materials that would best fit into the character of the forest summer resort. The house blends into the forest wall, harmonizes with the surroundings.
The house is formed by three blocks
Photo: PHOTOGRAPHERS Justyna Kwiatkowska and Piotr Folkman © trabendo.
Ola Kloc: Did you introduce any eco-friendly solutions in this project?
Łukasz Nowak: We designed a heat pump as a heat source, and a domestic sewage treatment plant was also created in the garden space.
Ola Kloc: What are you most proud of, and what was the most difficult in this implementation?
Łukasz Nowak: Without hesitation, I can declare that we are proud of our Investors - this was an exceptional cooperation - with such trust in our work and commitment, especially at the stage of implementation, we have met in our studio only a few times. Investors became, as it were, part of our design team, and through artistic sensitivity, they made the best possible choices. It was a beautiful adventure.
spatial diagrams
© trabendo.
Ola Kloc: Thank you for the interview.
