2021-2022
@bxbstudio_boguslaw_barnas
„This small house with an area of 170 square meters is inspired by a wooden hut I accidentally encountered during a bicycle trip, which somehow particularly captivated me and stayed in my memory, just like the characteristic arcaded houses of Lanckorona. The Little Eaves House breaks all conventions, rules and principles. It is rude, unbalanced, but very logical and consistent, which is why I like him so much. Its form is the result of functional solutions, principles of ergonomics and light in architecture.”
Bogusław Barnaś, BXB studio
After the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage, The Little Eaves House is another interpretation of regional architecture for modern design. The Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage, inspired by the architecture of Lanckorona, is an object with an area of almost 400 square meters, while the latest proposal of the BXB studio is only 170 square meters of extremely functional architecture, which directly refers to a wooden house accidentally encountered on a mountain trail.
This house has been designed to meet the expectations of both a single person and a family of 4 or 5 people. That is why we designed the attic layout in such a way as to easily adapt it to the changing needs of the users. In the basic version, the first floor houses a small library on the entresol, an intimate terrace and a night zone space: a spacious bedroom, a bathing room and a dressing room. In the family version, the attic gains one or even two additional rooms.
The ground floor of the house is an extremely spacious, bright, transparent and well-lit living space. It includes a kitchen island and is open to two terraces: on a dining room side with an outdoor kitchen and a more roofed one on the living room side. The daily space is opened up to the ridge, but its volume has been reduced by the characteristic roof cut, which also generates additional upper glazing that illuminates the interior of the house with natural light. The ground floor also houses a guest room or a study with a possible independent entrance, a second bathroom, a technical area, pantries located next to the kitchen and a single-car garage equipped with a panoramic window placed at the height of the driver’s head.
Mobile shutters are an interesting stylistic detail of The Little Eaves House. They harmonize with the entrance gate to the property, which is undercut in order to be opened inside despite the steep driveway. We also created the roof in an unusual way, which generates variable widths of the eaves, e.g. the entrance zone or the main terrace are more roofed. Thus, we obtained an extremely asymmetrical form of the roof with an innovative dormer (anti-lucarne), which here is a volume subtracted and not added, as is the case in traditional buildings. In the design process, we tested various material options – white metal sheets, natural patinating wood, shingle or gray metal sheets, but in the end we decided on fired wood panels, white soffit and concrete terrace. A fence, retaining walls of the driveway area, greenery and a garbage shed have also been designed for this house and refer in style to the feisty character of the building.
The arcaded terraces, in turn, refer to the topography of the plot by forming arcaded stairs that create the entrance to the guest room or the study area.
To ensure the stability of the sloping garden adjacent to The Little Eaves House, the architect ingeniously incorporated retaining wall steel posts, blending them seamlessly with the natural landscape.
The Little Eaves House is a building in which every, even the smallest detail has been thought out and worked through. On the one hand, we have created a traditional, cozy little house, on the other hand, we have desined a futuristic space that is both ecological and functional. Nothing is accidental in this house, although our goal was indeed to achieve the impression of randomness and light-heartedness that we find in our inspiration – an old wooden mountain hut. Thanks to this, the house we designed creates a sense of home warmth, such as we find in traditional wooden regional architecture.
“Nothing is accidental in this house, although my goal was indeed to achieve the impression of light-heartedness that we find in the inspiration – an old wooden mountain hut. Thanks to this, the house we designed creates a sense of home warmth, such as we find in traditional wooden regional architecture.”
Bogusław Barnaś, BXB studio
