GARDEN House

GARDEN House is a house for a family in Soligorsk.
The project involved the reconstruction of the house and the adjacent plot. The plot had many advantages: flat terrain, picturesque nature around, and the complete absence of neighbors.

The house that came to us for reconstruction caused puzzlement. Everything was there: a non-standard configuration of walls, a challenging roof, lofty narrow staircases, all window shapes one can imagine, frightening chimneys, a garage going underground, and a very high rise of the first floor above the ground level (about 2 meters), which created a massive porch in front of the house and a staircase inside.

We know from experience that reconstruction is always more challenging and expensive than new construction, so initially, we proposed to bulldoze everything. But the customers insisted on keeping the foundation and partially the first floor. Unfortunately, partial preservation of the house elements saved neither time nor money but created many additional difficulties.

It is important to note that the shape of the house changed several times during the design process. At first, the customers wanted a three-story house with a double-pitched roof. Yet when we began to apply this form to the existing volume, the house turned out to be disproportionate. Then, we offered an option with a flat roof and two stories that everybody liked. As soon as we found the appropriate shape, working with the architecture immediately became easy and pleasant.

The landscape architecture project includes a recreation gazebo, a separate campfire area, an outbuilding, and a canopy for two cars at the street side.

We tried to preserve the existing fruit trees and emphasize them with an appropriate landscaping concept.

The color solution of the façade was to create an undemonstrative color scheme. We used a combination of white metal and anthracite porcelain stoneware. Sometimes we added wooden accents. The primary materials of the cladding are large-format porcelain stoneware panels and slats made of thermally modified wood. The side jambs in the windows, the elements covering the ends of the plank, and the window sills are made of metal. We also designed ventilated façades.

At first, the customers didn’t want large windows, as they did not feel like being visible from the street, but at the same time, they liked interiors with natural light.
Our team found a solution when large windows combined with cantilever overhangs provide privacy and let in enough light.

The height of the house is three stories: it has a basement, first floor, and second floor. From the basement, one gets to the hallway with a dressing room. From the hallway, one can go down to the basement,with a garage, a furnace room, a pantry, a bathroom, a sauna with a shower, and a relaxation room.
Also, from the hallway, one can go up to the first floor, where there is a spacious living room with a fireplace area, a kitchen-dining room, and a guest bedroom with a bathroom. The living room, combined with the kitchen-dining room into a single space, has floor-to-ceiling glazing at one side.

The floor-to-ceiling glazing system provides access to the terrace. The terrace has a staircase leading directly to the yard.
On the second floor, there is a primary bedroom with a dressing room and a large bathroom. To our mind, it turned out to be very successful in planning. There are two children’s playrooms, a bathroom, and a laundry room nearby.