The Apple House | BXB studio - Boguslaw Barnas

The Apple House

Project: BXB studio Bogusław Barnaś

Team: Bogusław Barnaś, Justyna Duszyńska, Urszula Furmanik, Magdalena Fuchs, Mateusz Zima, Kamil Makowiec, Anna Hydzik, Anna Mędrala, Kinga Żuk, Marzia Tocca, Paula Wróblewska, Maros Mitro, Anna Velcheva, Eva Allerhand, Miquel Alberto, Raquel Astasio Luna, Magdalena Fuchs

Film: Unique Vision Studio Rafał Barnaś

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_41BzARC-E

Photography: Piotr Krajewski, Rafał Barnaś

Location: Kraków

Data: 2016-2023

Building footprint: 125 m2

Usable floor ares: 360 m2

Client: Private

The Apple House was built in the depths of a long and narrow plot overgrown with trees, which we decided to keep, despite the fact that their location significantly hindered the development of the plot. Another challenge was to design two buildings on the plot. The first one, located in the frontage of Twardowskiego Street, between the acacia and the walnut, is Micro Tenement - our already known project, awarded with the SARP Award of the Year 2023. The Apple House is located behind the Micro Tenement, between the aforementioned walnut and a magnificent apple tree. The compositional layout of the plot closes at the end with a cluster of tall spruce trees.

In order to fully exploit the investment potential of this difficult-to-develop plot surrounded by intensive urban development, we decided to design a house that would make maximum use of the cubic capacity, insolation conditions and viewing axes permitted by law. In addition, we shaped the functional layout of the house in such a way that the surrounding greenery becomes an integral part of its interior, and the neighboring buildings remain practically invisible.

The puristic shape of The Apple House was defined by noble materials. The roof was made of Ruukki Classic standing seam graphite sheet metal, the side elevations were finished with graphite brick, and the front elevations were finished with wood.

The extension of the glazed living area is a roofed terrace, which encloses the aforementioned apple tree in a spatial frame. The tree becomes a part of the house here - a living sculpture, an element of interior design, terrace and garden. It is something like a natural calendar, which, depending on the season, takes on a different color. White spring flowers, green leaves, red apples, autumn golden colors, winter white are an extraordinary spectacle of diversity that The Apple House gains as a result of the original decision to preserve the existing tree stand.

The Apple House, like the neighboring Micro Tenement House, proves that a small and narrow plot, compact neighborhood, limited development area, or problematic existing trees are not an obstacle to creating attractive and functional architecture.

At BXB studio, we have always placed special emphasis on the relationship between man and nature, which has a special impact on the specificity of the space we create. Our goal is to constantly search and discover beauty in the surrounding nature. At the same time, creating this beauty in the architectural design process.