The pandemic has been going on for more than a year. There is a lot of talk about its impact on architecture, on places to live - many people during the lockdown dreamed of a house with a garden, a space away from the city, where, despite the restrictions, they will be able to feel at ease, be closer to greenery and breathe cleaner air. Just before the outbreak of the coronavirus, on a somewhat hidden and surrounded by greenery plot of about eight hundred square meters, in one of the suburban villages of Warsaw, the M7 House, designed by architects from the MFRMGR studio, was built, prepared not only for pandemic times.
View of the southern elevation of the house
Photo: ONI Studio
The plot on which the house was built is located between several other properties of similar size, access to which is possible through a barrier-enclosed extension. This location allowed the house not to be enclosed on three sides, adding a more local and open character to the site, as the architects point out.
The compact, light gray body of the house is a cuboid, which, with its simplicity and neutrality, was intended to relate to the shape of the plot. However, it is not an ordinary cube - the one-story building is full of indentations, recesses and glazing of geometric shapes in varying sizes on all sides. The monolithic body of the house, in addition to the aforementioned indentations, recesses and glazing, is decorated with simple steel railings made of flat bars.
The monolithic body of the house is decorated with simple steel railings made of flat bars
Photo: ONI Studio
The house'saustere concrete facade and mixed structure (partly reinforced concrete, partly brick) carefully surround its heart - an interior green patio, which not only creates a unique, intimate atmosphere, but also effectively illuminates the interiors.
The bonding point for all the needs in the house, became the inner patio. Thanks to it, a view of the greenery is available from practically every part of the building: from the living room, kitchen, corridor near the bedrooms and from the entrance to the building. What's more, the patio and the openings in the living room at the seemingly closed concrete block resulted in well-lit interiors with large glazing while maintaining intimacy inside, the project authors write.
A green patio illuminates the interior and creates an intimate atmosphere
photo: ONI Studio
Throughout the entire length of the building's first floor, viewing axes have been preserved. And so from the living room you can look directly at the kitchen, and entering the building you can see the greenery behind the building. The entrance arcade gained an interesting, unexpected function. During the lockdown, when it was not possible to move too much on the roads, residents could train here, for example, cycling (trainer) or rowing," add the architects from the MFRMGR studio.
terrace on the first floor
Photo: ONI Studio
The five-story house is traditionally divided into a living area on the first floor - housing a spacious living room with a dining room and access to the terrace, a kitchen with facilities, a study, a toilet and a garage connected to the boiler room, and the private rooms of the householders on the first floor - the parents' bedroom with a dressing room and bathroom, a laundry room, children's rooms and a guest room. Above the garage, on the first floor, there is a large terrace with an area for preparing meals on warm days without having to go down to the kitchen.
Małgorzata Krzanowska of the Utopia studio is responsible for the design of the cozy yet modern interior of the house.
