The floating house

At first glance, the house looks like it is standing on stilts. When you look closer you will see the glass surfaces that support the chunky, iridescent grey roof structure from below. “The mass of the roof and walls of the second floor floats, as it were, on top of a glass case”, say architects Evaldas Žurkus and Aidas Kalinauskas of UAB Studija Archispektras, describing the unusual appearance of the building.
 
Their design for the family house in Birštonas, Lithuania, was minimalist yet unique. They achieved this by using exclusive materials to create the façade and by conceiving an unusual floor plan.

The project consists of a 200-m² residential building and a recreational building connected by a terrace built on an elongated rectangular plot. The house was positioned along the northern section of the plot and the south side was kept as a garden. “While considering the best position for the building on the property, we had the idea to divide the house into separate but overlapping functional areas and indoor and outdoor spaces”, the architects explain. The terrace is located between the two buildings so it cannot be seen from the street, creating privacy. “We matched the shape of the house’s gabled roof to those of the traditional houses in the area. The interrupted floor plan of the building and the façade structure create a clear, unique architectural expression and an exciting play of light and shade.”

The design team wanted to use as few different materials as possible to retain the building’s minimalist style, which led them to choose Koramic Bellus tiles for the roof and façade. “The tile design helps create the seamless, integral and continuous look of a minimalist house”, say Žurkus and Kalinauskas. The roof and the upper floor, both in agate grey, sit on a glass base. The tile envelope is only drawn down to the ground at the outermost ends of the buildings. The tiled façade is combined with flamed wooden boards that emphasise the breaks in the house, according to the designers.
 
The unconventional broken form and the elegant grey outer shell not only give the building grace and maintain the connection to the surrounding houses, which also have grey gabled roofs, but also allow the various areas of the house to be used for different purposes. “Although the structure is quite dramatic, the two buildings create an atmosphere of peace and relaxation”, say the architects, describing the project.