Excerpt: Family House Mseno, an architecture project by Stempel & Tesar architekti, features a simple building volume made of lightweight timber, elevated into free space by branching legs and a steel grate. The house features a cantilevering roof overhang that prevents summer overheating and allows daylight into the interior. Each bedroom has a terrace with views of the garden, town, and mountain slopes.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] With an amazing view, still just nearby a city/town centre in a quiet residential area, first impressions were “ideal site yet still empty.” Despite the low price, the steep slope of the terrain does not allow a typical house and repels potential buyers.
A simple building volume is elevated into the free space by a pair of branching legs carried by a steel grate. The grate is touching the terrain at the point of access. These three bearing points can hold a lightweight timber building for a typical family.
This effective solution proved to be very efficient and advantageous. The site is located in the mountains, where melting snow could potentially negatively impact the building form embedded into the slope. This also simplified the groundwork and waterproofing and improved the budget for other parts of the building.
The client initially expressed a desire to own a house with all rooms on a single floor; after he bought the site, he resigned from that idea. However, the architects managed to design the house in such a way after all. All rooms: living room, dining room, and kitchen; three bedrooms; office; utility room; bathroom with a sauna; and separate toilet. All directly accessible from the main road, even for physically challenged persons.
A cantilevering roof overhang protects large glazed window areas from overheating in summer, while this arrangement allows sunshine to enter the interior and contributes to reducing heating loads in winter. Every bedroom has direct access to the terrace overlooking the garden, the town, and the mountain slopes.
Tree crowns and terraces compensate for indirect access to the garden, resembling a severe ski slope in winter. The best viewing points can be found on this ski slope, and one has to climb down or ski downhill to enjoy them.
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