Type
housing

Source
project commission

Client
private

Address/Site
Sinja Gorica

Site area
3.749 m2

Building area
993 m2

Total floor area
1.972 m2

Program
residential

Structure
reinforced concrete, wood

Cladding
bricks, mortar, wood

Architect
SADAR+VUGA (Jurij Sadar, Boštjan Vuga, Maja Omerzel, Matjaž Bahor)

A Neighbourhood of Five Twin Houses in Sinja Gorica

a garden + a house + a playground + do it yourself = Slovenian dream home

The size and topography of the land determines the initial plan and formation of ten one-family apartment buildings, joined into five twin houses. The houses are placed parallel to the street. The whole piece of land is divided into five belts: gardens, lower houses, carport and inner street, upper houses with gardens and the forest. This way, the land gets a variety of outer ambiances which contribute to the well-being of the residents. The access road made from concrete paving gores through the middle of the land, between the upper and lower houses. It leads the way to the carports of the lower houses and the garages of the upper houses and it becomes the meeting point and playground of the children living in the neighbourhood. This is the only public, shared area. The green cascade walls mark off the gardens of the upper houses towards the access road. This central area of the neighbourhood gives an impression of an urban, sociable street.

The three smaller houses are in the lower part and two bigger ones in the upper part. They are houses for families of four that offer all the comfort that such a family needs. The houses are designed as »dreams« of a young, urban family that moves here because it is close to the city and the motorway but still offers a big amount of intimacy with a big garden on the edge of the forest. The design allows the possibility of finishing the house according to one’s own taste, wishes and needs. It is inspired by well-known imagery and patterns of suburbia (hayracks, outbuildings, workshop canopies and self-made facades), playing with them, changing them and giving them a completely new meaning. Nothing is completely new or in excess, but the houses are still unique: vast glass openings of living and sleeping areas oriented towards the gardens are the main architectural element, which, together with the big and thin asymmetric roof, gives the houses their distinct character.

The smaller houses in the lower part open towards the south and the green garden with their living areas. They are designed in two floors: a living ground floor and a sleeping attic. The upper-level houses open towards the east and west with the living spaces and gardens. They are designed in three floors with the same ground plan and asymmetric gabled roof. Because the ground floor is burrowed from three sides, the choice of finishing materials blends in nicely with the solitary hill. The ground floor, therefore, holds the entering and technical areas while the first floor serves as the living area and the second floor as the sleeping area. The view through the roof windows on the north looks over a beautiful set of treetops, which are a part of the forest.

Because of the unified neighbourhood design and the diversity of each individual house and garden, the residents will be able to identify with their own living environment on three different levels: my neighbourhood, my garden and my house.