byesh-chah-di house

"...On your way to the front door you see a turquoise colour of the shimmering water that touches gently the shores of the lake. When you enter the house, you are surrounded by nature, the maturity of greenery, which has been living here for years meanwhile on the horizon the same water. These experiences are possible thanks to the transparent frames which make disappear the boundary between the inside and the outside. Whether you are sitting on the sofa, reading a book or cutting a bread, you feel that you are an integral part of what the Bieszczady (byesh-chah-di) Mountains are. The outdoor space terrace, which naturally continue from the living room’s space, allows you to breathe the same air that serves the adjacent nature to grow. Going up on the wooden stairs, you get through the beam architectural structure and experience the changing perspective of the view at Solina Lake. In result at the upper floor, you're privileged to experience the same feelings that only the crowns of the trees have known before. The noise and wavy vibrations of the leaves can be heard and seen from the upper terrace..."

Those dreams of greater scale were compressed in the architecture and took form of the house with a volume of 300 m3.

The project is located in Bieszczady (byesh-chah-di) Mountains which range in far south-eastern Poland. In the middle of some national parks and this scantily populated and graced by thick woods and open meadows area exists a lake called ‘Solina’ which is the largest artificial water dam and reservoir in Poland with storage capacity of 474 million m3. This is where a small house with an area of around 70 m2 was built. It can be used as a vacation home for a family of up to 5 members. The building was completed after demolition of the existing one- 'as' type summer house on the plot. Some sentiments to this lightweight wooden structure built 20 years ago remained and were expressed in the materials used - wood, colours - white and other aspects and details of the newly created project.

The house sits on the southern slope with a slope of 15-30%, descending to the shore of the lake. The building is well-designed to use the flat fragment of the terrain, in order to maximize the natural course of the slope and surrounding rich in woodlands with the predominance of deciduous medium-high trees.

In the neighbourhood, you can observe a mixture of positive regional architecture, wooden architecture, but also modern-style architecture and a few negative examples of incomprehensible nouveau-rich ‘palaces’.

House’s form consists of two basic elements: a single-storey cuboid and a gable roof with an inclination angle of 45°. The designed form of the building is the result of a thorough spatial and geometric analysis but also the modelling gymnastics aimed to limit the cubic capacity to 300 m3. The idea behind this project was to insert the building naturally in the slope and to open it up to the beauty of the surrounding landscape. The proposed architecture is minimalist, functional, but also regional thanks to the materials used, modesty and reference to the local tradition of building. The building is additionally offering two terraces on two different levels on the south side with a view at the lake Solina. The designed building harmonizes with architecture around.

The entrance to the building is located on the eastern side, accessible through the north entrance to the plot. Ground floor consists of the living room with a kitchen in an open-floor plan, a small bedroom with a bathroom and a technical room accessible from the outside. On the upper level +2.70 there are two bedrooms with a bathroom and laundry. The master bedroom is connected to outdoor spaces via upper terrace.