Dominika Cieplak and Kamil Federyga - first-year second-year architecture students at the Tadeusz Kosciuszko Cracow University of Technology - designed a three-generation house with an artistic ceramics studio. They chose the village of Polanka, located in Małopolska province, as the location. The work received an honorable mention in the national competition Design of a pro-climate house organized by the Ministry of Climate and Environment and SARP Warsaw Branch.
The house is made of timber frame construction
© Dominika Cieplak, Kamil Federyga
The house with the ceramics studio along with the function of workshops for children and adults is a complex of buildings referring to the traditional layout of country houses, according to the scheme - the house arranged parallel to the road, the outbuilding - perpendicular to the road. The students proposed a timber-frame structure with an elevation also referring to the divisions of traditional rural buildings, but created from recycled planks. Meanwhile, the house's partitions were designed to meet the standards of a zero-energy house.
The buildings by their layout and massing refer to traditional rural buildings
© Dominika Cieplak, Kamil Federyga
lots of diversified greenery
The proposed house is oriented according to world directions, with direct access to the road thanks to a gravel driveway. The use of a gravel surface facilitates the passage of water. The building is located in the midst of diverse greenery - flower meadows, providing biodiversity and food for bees and other insects, a fruit or chard and a vegetable and herb garden, rain gardens, using rainwater runoff from the roof.
house design with art ceramics studio
© Dominika Cieplak, Kamil Federyga
pro-climate solutions
The students also designed a retention tank, connected to a recovery system for gray water, used for watering the garden, housekeeping and flushing toilets. Parking spaces were provided in the driveway - for a large family, including a person with a disability. There is also access for charging an electric car. On the roof, the authors have provided photovoltaic panels to provide heat and energy for the entire complex, as well as a mini wind turbine to produce electricity. The house is equipped with a ground-source glycol-water heat pump.
plans of the entire establishment
© Dominika Cieplak, Kamil Federyga
three-generation house
The tri-generational house includes a garage for two cars, a separate section for the older generation - also designed to meet the standards of housing for a person with a disability - and a main section with a bedroom floor. The living rooms have direct access to a terrace overlooking the garden. The first floor houses three smaller bedrooms and one master bedroom with a separate bathroom, dressing room and a large south-oriented terrace. The whole is served by a recuperation system with heat recovery.
The elevations are covered with reclaimed wood
© Dominika Cieplak, Kamil Federyga
ceramics studio
The house is connected to the ceramics studio by a glass connector that serves as a conference and workshop. However, it does not have a direct passage to the living area, but an external exit connected to the dirt sluice and the utility bathroom.
large art ceramics studio
© Dominika Cieplak, Kamil Federyga
The studio consists of a large room for the ceramicist, with multiple storage areas and a firing room with two electric kilns powered by renewable energy. A workshop area has also been designed. An important idea of the studio is to recycle clay and use local raw materials.
