OUTrial House

Location / context
The house is situated in Ksiaznice near Warsaw (PL). The building plot is 1440m2. It was a part of grassy forest clearing and the nearby surroundings were not developed. The investor - the guitarist in the rock band- wanted to have a medium- size, simple, one floor house that becomes the part of the area. It was the only point of departure for the idea.

Idea
The context and investor`s expectations made us to treat grass as a material. One part of the grassy plot is cut out and treated as the roof for basic functions. At the end of design work the investor wished to find a place for an orangery and a small recording studio. As we did not want to resign from the idea of the clearing around the house and on the roof of the house the concept of combining the interior with the green roof arose. Due to “cutting a notch and bending” to inside, the roof became an atrium reached from the inside of the house. The smoothly selling roof created space similar to bandstand that can be used to outdoor jam sessions. The very similar process was used to design the recording studio - the green roof was cut a notch and bent up what created perfect space for the work of a rock musician.

OUTrium - the New type of space
The green space smoothly penetrates into the interior which joins the merits of a traditional atrium ( access from the inside gives the feeling of security) with the outdoor garden ( gives the feeling of open space). OUTrium- as we called it - lets us be pleased with the outside and stays the inside of the house strictly joined with the living room in the same time.
Technology
The selection of technologies was based on the investor`s principles who wanted a simple house. The house is built in the traditional technology ( brick wall, reinforced concrete ceiling). There are white plaster inside and outside walls; there are inside suspended ceiling made of cement plate with let lamp covers; concrete floor. The use of glazing without frames in the living room allowed to light the interior and feel the OUTrium. The green roof is a good isolation that reduces the loss of heat in winter and cools the house in summer. It assures a very positive microclimate inside the house.