The latest realization of the studio Anonimowi Architekci is a single-family house with a characteristic broken but compact body. Architect Malgorzata Sadowska-Sobczyk always designs the exterior and interior of a building at the same time. She cares about interestingly overlapping plans and mystery - this is also the case with the house in Owczarnia, where not everything is immediately "exposed".
The single-family house was built in Owczarnia, Mazowieckie province
Photo: Gosia Góra © Anonymous Architects
The house, built in Owczarnia, consists of an open living area with a carport on the first floor and a sleeping area with two bedrooms, bathrooms and a dressing room on the first floor. The facades are covered with larch wood and the roof with trapezoidal steel sheets. Interestingly, there are virtually no windows on the street side, and the block, broken in the living room section , opens vistas to the south and the garden. The inverted ridge allowed to raise the living room, and the windows, placed at several heights and of different sizes, make the interiors full of light at any time of the day.
The interiors are dominated by raw concrete and white
Photo: Gosia Góra © Anonymous Architects
Dobrawa Bies: We are talking about a single-family house that was recently built near Podkowa Leśna. Interestingly, the investors approached you already with another finished project and a building permit. Your role was to propose a new building. Where did the work begin?
Malgorzata Sadowska-Sobczyk: I had some guidelines from the investors, also regarding the form of the building, which they liked, for example, the inverted ridge - the slanted roof resulted from the local plan. It's hard to say where the work started. I had to present my idea immediately convincingly in the first concept of the mock-up, because the project order depended on it. First of all, I wanted to create one compact block, and not, as the investors said, a house with a carport.
Mock-up of the house, closed block from the street side
Photo: Gosia Gora © Anonymous Architects
The plot is not too big, so I did not want to clutter it. It was important to close to the street and open to the garden. The sides of the world matched this perfectly. The slant at the top of the house is exactly to the south. This hid the terrace a bit and made the space more intimate. I wanted to achieve the effect of a compact house from the outside, at the same time, from the inside, so that it would be differentiated and have different separate spaces. And that's why it's not a "tramway" type - kitchen, dining rooms, living room, but separately separated with different atmosphere, with different heights.
first floor plan
© Anonymous Architects
Dobrawa: Thanks to the thoughtful placement of windows, the interior of the house is illuminated throughout the day. The inverted ridge allowed to enlarge the living room, which further emphasized the minimalist and austere character of the interior. What guided you in the design of the interior and its arrangement?
Malgorzata Sadowska-Sobczyk: In my house in Jozefow, where I received clients, I have a very similar interior design. Everything made of concrete is left unplastered, in addition to white walls and a floor of light decorative concrete. The investors felt very comfortable with this arrangement.
The white kitchen blends with the interior
Photo: Gosia Gora © Anonymous Architects
We also added plywood on the slanted roof in the living room. The budget for the house was quite modest, so I tried to make the space interesting with a cool interior layout, a variety of windows and views, than with a designer and expensive finish.
The interiors are varied in height
Photo credit: Gosia Gora © Anonymous Architects
Dobrawa: The biggest challenge and source of pride is?
Malgorzata Sadowska-Sobczyk: It's hard to talk about any great pride. I think the house came out nice and the hosts like it very much, which is very important for me. Currently, the owner is finishing everything with very great sensitivity and taste.
Dobrawa: Thank you for the interview.
