House in frames

Authors’ Comment

This project tries to bring back into discussion the extra-urban villa in a contemporary context. Can we still talk about an isolated house nowadays or does the topic remain an obsolete one considering conversations about efficiency, reusability and thus sustainability. We believe that the two subjects are not mutually exclusive, and that is why we took this brief as a challenge. The design theme involved the creation of a single-family home for a couple of lawyers educated in France and the United States, who recently returned to Romania.
The proposed land opens to the north towards Lake Balotești and has a slope of 7 meters from the south-east to the north-west. The neighborhoods show precarious improvised buildings, especially facing the west and south plots. The eastern side of the site is undeveloped and is full of spontaneous vegetation.
Our initial thought was the act of placing the house on this steep whilst facing the lake. Since do not believe in obvious gestures, we sought from the very beginning a sequencing of perception from the access towards the land to the most private and most privileged point of the house. As such, the house develops like a telescopic eye, along the land.
By placing the volume in this way, we wanted to obtain a firm distinction between the two courtyards that develop on each side of the house, both in terms of materiality and degree of intimidation. Thus, we obtain 3 distinct series of courtyards:
- A side strip (access) to the East – paved with white gravel and cutouts of sporadic vegetation. By systematizing the land, we propose a smoother slope to facilitate access to the ground floor. Along this long stripe, an access ramp, an outdoor kitchen, a terrace for serving coffee in the summer and a firepit for winter, in the immediate vicinity of the lake, follow one another.
- A series of 3 intimate courtyards towards the West - a direct result of the house's position. These courtyards were thought as a continuation of the interior space, at various levels. By slightly rotating the last volume, together with the proposal of an annex/storehouse, we tried to frame the second glance towards the lake.
- A wide courtyard between the lake and living room and the upper floor bedroom. With a pool cut out at its center on the flattest portion of the land.
The expression of the house is a direct consequence of its relationship with the vicinity. The short facades have punch holes carefully chosen to obtain sought after and controlled views towards the lake. The windows facing South are intended to light the interior spaces from the Southwest. The voids facing the intimate courtyards are thought in direct relation to the interior, each void looking towards a landscaped garden. Upstairs, due to the unpleasant vicinity, we chose to light the rooms with skylights and with south facing windows. The East façade only has the strictly necessary punch holes, equipped with shutters.
The course of the house unravels on the outside from the entrance, through the volume of access to the first floor, treated with burnt wood according to a Japanese technique (shou sugi ban). By using this technique, we can raise the status quo of the material used to make the formwork to that of a pleasant façade material. This volume includes both the vertical and horizontal circulations as well as all the service spaces of the house and equally has the role of holding the entire construction as well as dividing the plot in half.