Traditional single-family houses on a rectangular plan, covered with a gabled roof, often called contemporary barn, are very popular. What is their phenomenon based on? We asked architects from the Ggrupa studio, who designed the Little Barn, a simple single-family house for a couple with two children, in Warsaw.
In the two-story house, the architects decided on a classic functional layout with a spacious living area on the first floor and a private sleeping area on the first floor. Situated next to the house, the detached garage, as the project's authors emphasize, reduces the cost of the overall structure and limits energy losses. Between the blocks runs an external connector shielded from precipitation by a wooden roof.
ground and first floor plans
© Ggroup
The floor plan of the house was thought out so that there is no need to install windows on the southern slope of the roof. This allows the investor to use the sunny slope for the installation of photovoltaic cells.
With its simple form, the house is reminiscent of a barn block. The roof flashing, hidden guttering, wooden joinery and wood-fired facade finish allowed the architects to create a minimalist and coherent whole.
Photovoltaic cells occupy the sunny slope of the roof
© Ggrupa
Ola Kloc: What was the priority for the investors?
Marcin Solarek: The investors wanted a small footprint and a rich functional program for the house, taking into account the needs of a couple with two children. The requirements included three bedrooms, a study with use for a guest room, two bathrooms one on the first floor and the other on the first floor with a sauna, shower and bathtub, and a spacious living room with a dining room and kitchenette. An additional non-standard requirement was to lay out the layout so that the southern slope of the roof could be covered entirely with photovoltaic cells.
Ola: What was the biggest challenge in this project?
Marcin: The biggest challenge turned out to be to fit the established program into the designated maximum area (only 120 m²), so that all rooms were easily accessible and comfortable.
In order to get the best possible performance of the rooms with the small size of the house, communication on the first floor and first floor was kept to a minimum. In the end, we managed to design a house almost devoid of corridors.
The architects also designed a coherent interior of the house
© Ggrupa
Ola: What do you think the barn house phenomenon is based on?
Marcin: Barn houses have a compact body, which forces the use of thoughtful and efficient functional layouts. Their simple form guarantees a modern appearance of the house and great savings for investors, who do not have to worry about increased costs and construction time resulting from the complexity of the lump.
