A house in the Tatra Mountains located on the slope of Gubałówka in Zakopane was awarded first place in 2016 in the residential architecture category in the 8th edition of the competition for the Stanislaw Witkiewicz Małopolski Voivodeship Award. Below we recall the winning project by the Karpiel Steindel Architecture studio .
The design challenge of the House in the Tatra Mountains was to reconcile the desires of the investor, who expected a modern summer house for temporary use, with the strict assumptions of the local zoning plan, specifying how to refer to the traditional wooden architecture of Podhale villages.
The wings of the glass planes were mounted on special rails, flush with the floor level
Photo: Daniel Rumanicew © Karpiel Steindel Architektura
view of the Tatra Mountains panorama
The main idea of the project was to develop the building using the greatest asset of the plot - the view of the Tatra Mountains panorama. Thus, the idea of a completely glazed wall was created. To realize it, the largest available glass panels were used, designing the structural elements of the windows in such a way that when they are pulled apart they disappear from view - allowing the interior to open to the south side. The sashes of the glass planes were mounted on special rails, flush with the floor level. The effect is enhanced by the way they are tucked between the exterior wall and the facade cladding. Elements characteristic of Podhale village buildings have not been overlooked - a typical half gable roof, a plan based on a rectangle and eaves with a wooden soffit.
The house was built on the slope of Gubałówka
Photo: Daniel Rumanicew © Karpiel Steindel Architektura
lightweight construction
The load-bearingstructure of the aboveground floors is a reinforced concrete, slab-and-disc system, which in cross-section forms a pentagon; supported at its ends by steel diagonal columns and a reinforced concrete wall at a distance of 14 meters. The pentagon consists of the structural elements of the attic floor: the ceiling above the first floor, knee walls and haunches.
First floor with large glazing
© Karpiel Steindel Architecture
Thanks to this solution, the architects obtained a spatial form that is characterized by increased rigidity and the possibility of large glazings without visible barriers. On the other hand, the small cross sections of the steel columns add lightness to the structure.
The canopy seems to levitate above the base
Photo: Daniel Rumanichev © Karpiel Steindel Architecture
levitating roof
The building was topped with a half-gable roof. The sharp angle of the slope, the breaking of the roof with abutments, the far-reaching eaves and the support of part of the attic on three vertically deviated columns, made the roofing seem to levitate above the base. The roofing was made of standing seam rim metal, anthracite in color, with a wooden gable trim. Slope drainage was realized with gutters of rectangular cross-section. Downpipes mounted on the east wall, were partially hidden under the facade, so that the technical whole is practically unnoticeable, and the observer's attention is focused on the form of the building.
compiled by Dobrawa Bies
illustrations courtesy of Karpiel Steindel Architecture
