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The Experimental House: A Town House & A Country Villa

Part 1 Project 2019
Jakub Kolodziejak
 London Metropolitan University | UK
The experimental house theme demands a great intensity of ideas, through two house designs I was able to explore a range of scales from city or landscape to furniture and detail scale with different design methodologies while developing a coherent architectural language and character. The task of framing a way of life through spatial arrangements was very different in the urban and rural contexts.

The townhouse exploited the constraints of a tight and complex site in London. The spaces, materials and details responded closely to the existing conditions. The country villa was located in a vast open landscape in Suffolk overlooking a river in the distance with a forest behind. This allowed for more invention of the architectural and constructional language from within.

The intention to create characterful spaces was explored by using simple materials purposefully. The town house was generated from the brick garden walls around the site, the logic of brick and concrete construction was extended to form an interplay of protective internal spaces and external garden courtyards. The country house extends these ideas by creating a play between masonry volumes and enclosing filigree timber structures to create a variety of spatial and environmental conditions.

Tutor(s)
2019
1. My interest in designing with detailed construction was explored with two house designs, one in the city and one in the country.
2. To propose a way of life on two different sites demanded two different approaches, one contingent on a context, the other an architectural language of invention.
3. The town house exploits the constraints of a tight and complex urban site between residential gardens and a taller office building.
4. The project continues the idea of existing garden walls that wrap around the internal and external spaces, the thick walls are well insulated and form a refuge from the city.
5. The town house has three storeys, the split-level ground floor is planned around two garden courtyards to bring in light and allow long diagonal views within and to the canal.
6. The brick and concrete materiality informs the curved corner and the detail of the main staircase and the window details.
7. In the Country Villa on a beautiful open site in Suffolk overlooking a river, the design process was generated from a set of masonry walls, platforms and rooms, wrapped within a glazed timber filigree structure.
8. The starting point for the constructional language was a kit of parts of concrete cast elements and timber frames, I wanted to experiment how these elements could be combined.
9. The spaces and different materials of the house was designed to provide great variety of light conditions and environments throughout the day and over the seasons.
10. Furniture details such as benches and shelves have been designed as timber elements relating to the coursing of the blockwork.
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