In the Warsaw district of Włochy, in the vicinity of a two-hundred-year-old complex of ponds, which used to be a brickyard, the House in the Park of Cietrzewia has been built. Visible from the street, the geometric and restrained facade of the single-family house by Kruszewski Architekci studio, reveals its other face from the southeast, opening up with huge glazings to nature and inviting it inside.
large glazings open up to nature
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architects
The project aimed to create a visual and spatial relationship between the interior and the exterior. Despite the rather tight plot, the house takes advantage of all its locational advantages. The openings of the interior spaces to the outside frame the most important view references, consciously omitting the randomness of others.
Fallen before World War I, the two brickyards have over the years become a sanctuary for wildlife and home to many species of fish and birds. The unique green context of the site was a key consideration for the designed architecture, and the construction of the building was a real engineering challenge, says architect Romuald Kruszewski.
All walls of the house are reinforced concrete
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architects
construction an engineering challenge
All the walls of the single-family house are reinforced concrete, and long-span ceilings were supported on them without any additional supports. In this way, the architects achieved the desired effect of open spaces with large glazing. The terrace canopy with its large cantilevered overhang demonstrates the principle of reinforced concrete planes, defining the tectonics of the building.
gradation of impressions
On the side of the street and the main entrance, the house has a very restrained in form, geometric and undistinguished flat facade. The idea was to gradate the impression of the perception of what was to emerge after crossing the threshold of the house inside. The found landscape clearly visible from inside the house is the main protagonist of the designed architecture, the architect explains.
On the side of the street and the main entrance, the house has a very restrained form
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architects
The three-level house is organized along a massive concrete wall located on the northern side of the plot. There the main circulation of a single-run staircase connecting all levels is located. A glass elevator shaft, cuts the wall allowing clearance through the entire length and height of the building. In the central part of the house, above the entrance hall, there is a double-height space illuminated by a large skylight. Around this space, on the upper floor, the architects placed entrances to the bedrooms.
first floor plan and cross-section
© Kruszewski Architects
The living area is located on the first floor, elevated one and a half meters relative to the ground, and was designed as a free plan. From the southeast, the living room opens with large glazing to a covered terrace facing the park and ponds. This treatment gives the impression that both the living room and the terrace levitate above the grasses of the garden and the mirror of the nearby water.
Both the living room and the terrace levitate above the grasses of the garden and the mirror of the nearby water
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architects
synchronization with nature
The plants around the house relate to the character of the tall grasses and rushes of the floodplain, and the boundary between the private garden and the park is deliberately blurred. The designed garden, already in the assumptions was to be an extension of the inner space of the house, maximally open towards the park.
Part of the underground floor is open to the southern, hidden garden
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architects
The architects, thanks to the designed complex topography of the site, opened part of the underground floor of the building intended for leisure to a southern hidden garden.
Thehouse in Cietrzewia Park was nominated in 2021 for the Polish Cement in Architecture award and was presented at an exhibition at the Foksal Street pavilion.
The house is located in the district of Italy
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architekci
interview with Romuald Kruszewski
Dobrawa Bies: You could say that the House in Park Cietrzewia has several faces. On the street side it is a geometric, minimalist form, while on the living room side it opens with huge glazingto a beautiful view of the clay pit. Did you know from the beginning that the plot would dictate the form? How did you approach the task?
Romuald Kruszewski: From the beginning we were surprised that most of the neighboring houses completely ignore the unique natural context with their architecture. We knew that establishing a close relationship with the floodplain would be the theme for the architecture. On the street side, we wanted to keep the building as formally restrained as possible, which would complement and organize its development.
Dobrawa: What was most important when designing the house? What did you need to pay particular attention to?
Romuald Kruszewski: Two aspects of the design were most important. One was to fit the building harmoniously into this special context seen from the park. At the same time, it was important to create an exciting and inspiring place where homebuyers can have a good life.
The three-level house is organized along a massive concrete wall
Photo: Daniel Rumiancew © Kruszewski Architects
Dobrawa: What requirements have investors approached you with?
Romuald Kruszewski: Fortunately, the investors did not have a priori any formal proposal that they expected. Instead, they had their very precise requirements regarding functions and their size. They were also aware of the uniqueness of the place, but they needed proof of the project to convince themselves of this.
Dobrawa: The house has a demanding structure, which was probably quite a design and engineering challenge. How did you deal with it?
Romuald Kruszewski: We have been working for years with our designer Michal Kominchuk, with whom we understand each other very well. We all feel that moment in a project when the structure becomes a key element for the tectonics of the building. That was also the case here.
