In the village of Tomaszew, in the buffer zone of the Bolimowski Landscape Park, on the border of two provinces - Lodz and Mazovia - Rafał and Aleksandra Górscy have erected a small wooden cottage. What makes it stand out from other holiday houses?
The cottage is located in the vicinity of a forest and a cornfield
Photo: Ernest Wińczyk
in search of the perfect view
Located next to a forest and cornfield, the house is at first glance a very simple, slightly sloping block - its three facades are covered with black-fired spruce planks (Japanese Shou Sugi Ban technique), while the fourth is completely glazed. A panoramic, low-profile aluminum window located opposite the bed is designed to provide an unobstructed view of the green surroundings. This view can be changed at will. How is this possible? The house - according to the advertising slogan: "let the world revolve around you"- is rotatable.
Three of the house's facades are covered with spruce planks, the fourth is completely glazed
Photo: Ernest Wińczyk
Before the idea of creating revolving houses was conceived, we simply thought of building several summer houses in one large clearing. At the stage of planning the development of the site, we were looking for some kind of golden idea - a solution in which each of the houses would have an ideal positioning: properly oriented in relation to the sun, showing off the beauty of the place, and at the same time providing maximum privacy for guests renting individual houses. We quickly learned that this is a zero-sum equation. We decided to go outside the box. We asked ourselves if homebuyers could determine their own view and decide how a particular house should be set up. Once we liked the idea, we decided to set the bar even higher. We determined that such a solution would please us only if there were no half-measures here either. Turning the house should be as simple as changing the channel on the TV - necessarily on the remote control, without having to return to the starting position. This last assumption proved to be one of the biggest challenges in the whole project
- Aleksandra and Rafal explain their idea.
rotating rest house
Photo: Ernest Wińczyk
remote control house
It takes three minutes for the house to fully rotate around its axis and, importantly, it works in both directions. To make this possible, the house had to be lightweight (the maximum load capacity of the rotating platform on which the house stands is 9 tons), so the creators relied on a structure made of wooden beams. It was also a challenge to design all installations so that they do not "tangle" when the platform rotates.
A full rotation of the house around its axis takes three minutes
Photo: Ernest Wińczyk
We recently came across a material on the web about a rotating house in the USA, whose owner quite accurately describes a proprietary solution of a rotating connector, allowing infinite rotation of the house while transferring water, sewage and electricity (you can find it on YouTube - rotating house, San Diego, California). We were pleased to find that our connector, although it does the same thing, is quite differently conceived. We don't describe it in detail, because we are working on a development version of the rotating house with improved technical solutions - to be placed anywhere in the world
- add the creators of the house.
de revolutionibus orbium coelestium
What awaits us inside? On an area of only 23 square meters (the house is designed for up to two people) we will find everything necessary:
We took care of a fairly large bathroom and a wide bed with an ultra-comfortable mattress. The house has a kitchen space, a place for clothes and a folding table where you can eat meals, work or play board games, which are waiting for guests here. In the thickness of the roof, by the skylight, we hid a projector and a drop-down screen. Blackout curtains turn the house into a movie theater even in the middle of the day. Everything can be operated with remote controls, without leaving the bed.
Thanks to the fact that the house is rotatable, we can choose any view, turn to the sun or hide from it
photo: Ernest Wińczyk
From the bed you can admire the stars - as a skylight has been placed just above it. In turn, behind the bed hangs a round painting bought at an auction (it's not a coincidence) "RytMy Water" by the painter of the young generation Martyna Luszczynska. In the interior you will also find geometric totems designed by Koki Skowronska, ceramic ornaments from Majolica Nieborów, and in the bathroom - a painting painted by Rafal's grandfather.
Aleksandra and Rafal also relied on natural, light and often quite innovative finishing materials: on the walls and floor are panels made of natural cork of various shades and textures (called 3D Tatami), while in the bathroom, in turn, you'll find a decorative, soft-textured Japanese cotton plaster on one of the walls.
interior details
Photo: Ernest Wińczyk
We are targeting guests who appreciate premium quality short rests. That's why we focused on quality materials. We looked for designer brands - unobvious, niche, often artisanal, Polish brands. The choices are unconventional and have a surprising effect. All this to make our visiting customers feel that here everything revolves around them
- Aleksandra and Rafal conclude.
