House K

The house is situated in a newly established suburban development to the south of Bratislava. The private hegemony and claustrophobia of gated communities are partially balanced by the iminent proximity of a protected nature reserve. By its positioning along the northern edge of the plot, the house creates a border between the access road and the private garden. The set—back from the property line allows for a stoop — a semipublic space without a fence. Revaluation of the relation between the common and private leads to the refusal of the traditional house division into two parts — one for day and the other for night. Master bedroom and children bedrooms are placed to the opposite sides of the building. A spatially dominant living room — the centre of family life — resides in the middle. A peculiar graded contour of the southern facade divides the common terrace into private parts related to each neighboring room. While the northern facade seems solid and impermeable the southern facade is completely glazed and exposes the house towards the garden. The house is covered in a coherent titanzinc envelope from which segments of the terrace and the entrance are subtracted. Total floor area: 250sqm Total plot area: 1170sqm