Lisi Garden House | Architects of Invention

The Site

The site is located to the North-West of Tbilisi, in the Saburtalo district, on a sloping hill near Lisi lake, with views over the city. A series of high-profile practices – Architects of Invention, Riccardo Bofill and UN Studio - have been commissioned to populate the masterplan with radically different, new build, 5 - 7 storey residential blocks, that will sit alongside a number of private houses. 

Lisi Green Town

The scheme is part of Lisi Development’s Green Town, a substantial residential project that boasts innovative green principles. Residents’ utility bills are reduced by up to 30%, thanks to Lisi’s energy efficiency standards, with electric charge points and rainwater harvesting included. 20% of the site is residential and the remaining 80% is dedicated to recreational areas and infrastructure.

Garden House

Inspired by both American architect James Wines’ collage “House of Homes”, with its greenhouse style living spaces, and by architects Brodsky & Utkin’s “Columbarium Habitable”, the concept for this scheme is houses with gardens stacked on top of each other to form a single residential block.   The modular living rooms are configured as alternating oval and rectangular forms that create a rhythmical vertical pattern within the grid.  As a modification to James Wines' vision, the Garden House’s verandas offer ample space for outdoor planting.

Radical modular build

The 7-storey building is notionally modular, with all elements, but not all modules, being constructed offsite. This represents a radical innovation for Georgian architecture, where offsite construction is still in its infancy.

The Garden House consists of 42 units over 6, uniquely configured residential floors, with ground floor commercial space and basement car parking. The building is vertically divided into three blocks. Each block contains a one-way staircase and an elevator cell with two flats located on each landing. The apartments on the standard floors have views both to the east and west, while the upper floors offer more luxurious, duplex apartments.

Materials

The facade of the building is treated with exposed concrete and high-quality, double-glazed glass panels, as well as with back-painted glass. The balconies and terraces are covered with white marble slabs. A new green space to the east of the building gives landscaping context to the building, as well as fulfilling the Green Town vision of dedicated recreational space for residents.