Villa E

Vila E
The Villa Sonje is built in the informal zoning of Sopishte
municipality, namely in Upper Sonje.
It is founded in a spontaneous context, in a random setting
with characteristic type of weekend housing, within a beautiful valley surrounded by unique nature.

The building is designed as classic typology reminiscent of
an urban villa, striving to offer an alternative to the urban chaos
of the city, with intimacy and isolation as guiding design
principles requested by the investor. The garden is formed
through a well-designed horticulture, that will compensate for
the deep embeddedness of the building in the landscape.

The design of VIlla E is defined by several key characteristics:
The entrance is accented by the terrace in order to
highlight the main living area. That is the lowest part of the
house, with a height of 2.20 m (the entrance on the ground
floor is 50 cm narrower than the garden), and thus, this is
a violation in the classical typological setting, where the atrium
can function autonomously, which allows for an independent use of the lower and the upper living spaces. The entrance
spatially spreads towards the garden along the stairs, and it
welcomes the beloved, closest and intimate users through the
jardiniere.
The strips, follow the shape of the facade which is
divided horizontally in continuity, with that accentuating the
terrace and its importance for dominating the surrounding, as
well as making it a possible place to observe the surrounding
nature.

The Continuity of the living room with the ground floor in a
single whole. The exterior stone wall enters the interior of the
house, while the ceiling goes out to the exterior paving on the
ground floor. The summer kitchen also provides comfort for
the use of the outside space. The ground floor is completely
indented below the upper floor, and thus provides a spatial
buffer(shelter), needed at all times of the year.
The Cork, is a soft material used to contrast the grey stone
as a hard material. The sensitivity of the cork gives a resiliency to the facade in relation to the atmospheric actions of
nature. The Cork transforms its colours overtime. Through its
transformation it shows the character of the season. It fades
in summer, and changes the color in rainy and snowy conditions. Those characteristics are beautifully complemented
by the light grey stone with yellow pigments, and the dark glass
frames and blinds. In this way, Villa E offers a dual appearance,
reminiscent of the rational solutions of the 60’s and 70’s.