森林小屋丨立陶宛维尔纽斯丨Inblum Architects

Architects:Inblum Architects

Area:236m²

Year:2022

Photographs:Norbert Tukaj

Manufacturers:Ruukki

Lead Architects:Dmitrij Kudin, Laura Malcaite

Landscape architecture:terrafirmaLT, Ramune Sanderson

City:Vilnius

Country:Lithuania

Text description provided by the architects. A residential house has been reconstructed in the Ribiškės Landscape Reserve belonging to the Pavilnys Regional Park.

The project aimed at reflecting the local spirit, contextually and sensitively meeting the needs of a modern house. Keeping a link to the past, and yet creating a present-day heritage, has become one of the main challenges. Do not expose architecture, but rather “immerse” it in an old apple orchard. To anchor the house comfortably to the terrain and make the inhabitants feel at ease in the environment.

The historically formed urban composition of the existing residential building and adjacent structures is distinguished as the main value of the protected area and becomes the basis of the newly formed building complex. Meanwhile, the existing buildings are not valuable, thus becoming subject for complete reconstruction, their volumes are increased and new functions assigned.

The restrained architecture of the archetypal gable volumes, inside its shape, is deconstructed in such a way that it affords enough room for terraces, beautiful views and light out the windows, the transparency of buildings and the emergence of intimate spaces. For example, one of the windows of the western façade may be directed to the Liepkalnis Ski Track. Therefore, during the winters, the owners of the house live inside a Bruegel-type landscape.

The outdoor-indoor connection is the dominant theme of the house, with a stepped terrace repeating the terrain and cosily lit by sunset rays, a preserved garden of old apple trees and a minimalist interior that frames the change of seasons outside the window. Moreover, the project conveys the past-present-future connection to the full. The history of the place continues through the transformation, with the old buildings turning into new ones and the new ones gradually getting old.

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