Amid the mature woodland of Podkowa Leśna, surrounded by towering Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris), English oaks (Quercus robur), hornbeams (Carpinus betulus), and strict landscape preservation regulations, a house was created whose architecture does not seek to dominate the site. Instead, it blends into it, negotiates space with it, and coexists with nature almost entirely on nature’s own terms.

The subject of the project is the reconstruction of a single-family house in twin housing from the 1970s, located on a small plot in a quiet and green district of Warsaw. The project arose from the necessity to adapt the structure of the existing building to the client’s individual needs. The previous house was too small and non-functional.

From the outset, our project was intended to become a catalyst for change in the center of Otwock and help restore its former glory. The building has the potential to become one of the city’s landmarks. With this project in such a prominent location, we wanted to send a clear signal that the city is developing and transforming.

We tell the story of POLES as a society and their talent for finding new opportunities, continuous creation, not giving up in extremely difficult and even seemingly hopeless situations, through their ability to create a community from the bottom up – solidarity around ideas.

Working with very knowledgeable and imaginative clients who were very aware of their needs gave us the impetus to design a boredom-breaking house. It has influenced what kind of associations this building can evoke. Looking at it, we feel the gentle atmosphere of a 1950s California villa.

reconstruction of a terraced house
Project awarded with the first prize in BrickAward 2019 competition in the „feeling at home” category, nominated in the category of single-family houses and nominated for the international Archdaily „Building of the year 19” prize and nominated for President of Warsaw Architecture Prize in the category of housing.

We came up with a concept of connecting the new building by a uniform plane of its wall to the existing manor house. The house kind of resembles a signpost. What we see first is the wall and then the house emerges. At the same time, such a barrier is the perfect excuse to create a quiet and intimate garden in the inner area of the plot.

japanese street food  bar and shop

The concept is a follow-up to typical japanese street food bars. There is also some place for the presentation of japanese products. Inspired by the unique character of cities and bamboo forests, the area was arranged with vertical pipes, creating abstract impression.

single-family house located on a small parcel

project of a single-family house with complex function, concerning large amount of house-dwellers, located on a small terrain of irregular shape

bar project

interior design of a vegan restaurant with healthy food located in Hala Koszyki

interiors of socialist-realism cinema

interior project of post-war cinema ‘Muranów’, focusing on elegant, traditional design of the cinema

sound company headquarters

interior design of a company working on sound production for commercials and films

traditional “zapiekanka” bar

interior design of the traditional polish dish “zapiekanka” bar, alluding to bazaar stalls from polish 1990s transformation period

office space

project for the office space joining cozy places for the large group of workers

single-family house with atrium

house located on a medium-sized parcel with inner patio