Light House is a project for a minimalist and modern single-family house by the 3DPROJEKT ARCHITECTURE studio in Lodz. As the designers emphasize, it is a response to the growing demand of investors for tailor-made compact single-family houses and an example of a building realized in the spirit of smart. What does this actually mean and what is the design process of the architects from Lodz?
Light House is a modern single-family house of 120 square meters inscribed in a simple square plan. Planning the building on such a regular shape made it possible, as the architects emphasize, to achieve an optimal proportion between built-up and usable area. The minimalist body is emphasized by the materials used - raw gray concrete and black wood, which appears both on the exterior and permeates the interior of the house.
The 
Light House is a modern single-family house with an area of 120 square meters
© 3DPROJECT ARCHITECTURE
We wanted to open the house to the garden, and that's why we used spacious sliding glazing, made with the so-called "lost wing" technology. In practice, this means that the movable wing of the window slides into the wall when opened, so it becomes invisible and the partition between the interior and exterior of the building disappears, and the terrace becomes an extension of the living room," explains Izabela Markowska, architect at 3DPROJEKT ARCHITECTURE. - From the beginning, we had a clear idea to contrast the transparent, open garden part with the closed, less glazed form of the front elevation, which, as it were, guards the intimacy of the residents, giving a sense of safe refuge, she adds.
The 
minimalist body is emphasized by the materials used - raw, gray concrete and black wood
© 3DPROJECT ARCHITECTURE
The interior has been divided into three main parts - the living room, dining room and the kitchen, separated by precast concrete elements. In addition to the aforementioned wood, which flows seamlessly into the house from the facade, the architects reached for other natural materials, juxtaposing a variety of surfaces and textures - including French herringbone on the floor or veneer on the kitchen furniture - and nature-inspired muted colors.
living room
© 3DPROJECT ARCHITECTURE
Ola Kloc: Light House is, as you explain, an example of a compact single-family home concept in the spirit of smart. What does that actually mean?
Izabela Markowska: Popularly, the term smart is used for "intelligent building management" systems, but we are not limited to the sphere of electronics and automation, although we do not shy away from such solutions. This building is also equipped with a "smart home" installation. In our realizations, we aim to make the entire building intuitive and compact. Designing in the spirit of smart is our proprietary philosophy, at the core of which is holistic thinking about functionality, aesthetics and ergonomics. This way works perfectly in buildings with limited construction space, where we fight for every cubic centimeter of space. This type of implementation requires a lot of discipline and restraint and empathy from the designer. We must empathize with the role of the end user, learn about his needs and habits, and anticipate how he will function in the space we design. With thoughtful methods, we are able to translate this information into the language of architecture so that the buildings we design are best suited to the users. However, in order to achieve this effect, it is necessary to constantly work on the interior and exterior of the building in parallel.
dining room
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Ola: You designed both the body and interiors of the house. What is the design process like for such a complex assignment?
Isabella: At the pre-design stage, it is crucial to gather as much information about the users as possible and to clearly define the goals for which the building is being developed. From the first dash we think about the correlation of the interior with the exterior, we anticipate how the space can affect people, what behaviors it evokes.
From our years of experience, we know that comprehensive work on the interior and exterior of a building brings the most benefits to the investor. Most of the buildings we design are created this way - at the very first presentation of the project, the client sees a three-dimensional model and a full arrangement of the space.
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The kitchen is separated from the dining room by concrete precast elements
© 3DPROJECT ARCHITECTURE
Ola: The Light House concept was created during the pandemic, how did this situation affect the design?
Isabella: The pandemic did not change our system of working with clients. However, we were able at that time to anticipate the risks that are a dominant feature of the economic situation today - that is, difficulties in accessing imported materials and products. It was the pandemic that inspired us to take up the challenge to realize and equip the house mainly based on Polish brands. As you can see - we succeeded.
Ola: Thank you for the interview.
