aatrial house / KWK PROMES

       
                                   Appreciation towards KWK PROMES for providing the following description: 

     architect : Robert Konieczny                 

     collaboration :  Marlena Wolnik Łukasz Prażuch

     site area : 10 057 m2

     usable floor area : 659,57 m2

     volume : 2 055 m3

     design : 2002-2003

     construction : 2003-2006  

     Location

     The house is situated in Poland, close to Opole. Majority of low density settlement in the

     surroundings is formed of “cube – houses”, buildings typical for the 1970’s.

     Idea

     One hectare site near the forest, where the building is designed has only one weak point: south-

     western access. An obvious conflict develops between the driveway and the garden. The idea arose to

     lower the driveway in order to separate it from the garden. This prompted another idea - of a

     driveway leading inside to the ground floor level, from underneath the building, which became

     possible thanks to the creation of an inner atrium with the driveway in it.

   

     New type of the house

     As a result, the building opens up onto all sides with its terraces in an unrestricted manner, and

     the only way to get into the garden is through the atrium and the house.

     This in turn has made it possible to obtain a new spatial model of the house, which is the reverse

     of an atrial building. The aatrial house is closed to the inside and opened to the surroundings.

     Structure and materials

     The gateway is situated in the highest point of the site sloping to the east side. The 10 metres

     wide driveway following slope’s declivity, was additionally lowered underneath the ground level,

     while the garden was partly raised above this level. As a result, the garden is separated from the

     driveway and the surroundings with a 2.5m high retaining wall. The building was situated on the

     garden level. For the sake of neighboring buildings, typical polish “cube – houses” arisen it

     1970’s, the structure of the house results from various transformations of a cube.

     As a result of stretching and bending particular surfaces of the cube, all the walls, floors and

     ceilings were defined, together with inner aatrium and terraces. This principle of formation has

     not only created the structure of the house, but also defined interior and exterior architecture,

     including use of materials. The building is a reinforced concrete monolith, and concrete is at the

     same time the finishing material of the transformed cube, while all additional elements are

     finished with dark ebony.

     The driveway and retaining walls were made out of quarried granite blocks, the material

     characteristic for the surroundings.

     MORE:KWK PROMES