House Jankowicka I / 2022

When starting to design a house, the investor usually bases his experience from the places where he has lived or often stayed. Although the majority of those interested look for inspirations in various publications and media, their influence is quite superficial, limited to separate images of buildings and interiors. An unprepared recipient has difficulty in distinguishing what is the value of the photo itself and what is the architecture it presents. Most of the published images are frames arranged by professional photographers, often computer-corrected. Nice,but unimportant details attract attention.
It takes hours to wait for the light to fall at the right angle. This has little to do with reality. It says nothing about the proportions of the space. It does not take into account the disorder that is natural for everyday life. Despite attempts to rationalize the needs, the image of the future home’s functioning is largely based on emotions. Such important factors as objective land conditions and proper management of resources are relegated to the background. No wonder. At least when you start building you have to be optimistic. The strengths of the plot are usually exaggerated and the weaknesses neglected.

The economic factors comes down to the statement that it is supposed to be cheap, and unrealistic budgets are based on information obtained from friends. Construction is the hope for a new,better chapter in life. It is difficult to limit yourself from the very beginning. How does this attitude translate into a vision of the home? Usually, each need is assigned a separate room. Example?

A married couple who already have adult children build a house with two offices,because both of them “sometimes take work home”. At the same time, they do not notice that the garage is too small for two cars. After some time, it turns out that the lady of the house is using a business laptop in the kitchen,while glancing at her favorite series, her office has turned into a drying room, and the master of the house uses the office sporadically and it would be enough for him to have a desk in the guest room. Meanwhile, the garage can hardly fit a smaller car, because the second position is taken by a mower,bicycles and other accessories that do not have a better place.
In winter, a larger car has to be cleared of snow every morning and empty rooms have to be heated. There was no such experience before, so they were not taken into account at the time of designing. Rooms change their purpose by necessity, although this does not mean that the functional connections becomes right. And yet a square meter of room costs much more than a square meter of a garage or utility room. Regardless of the investor’s financial condition, the final construction costs are an unpleasant surprise for him, therefore, during, and even more often at the end of construction, false savings are sought. Wouldn’t it be better then to optimize the investment at the concept stage?

In Poland, construction costs are usually separated from the operating costs of the facility. The introduced energy-saving solutions are rather fashionable gadgets, and the not the result of a real economic calculation. Categories such as material durability and aging are rather marginal. In the rational Netherlands, almost one hundred percent of the facade is made of materials resistant to destruction, mainly brick. In Poland, the “light wet” method is mostly used. After several or several; dozen years, the expenditure on repairs significantly exceed the costs of using durable materials, even taking into account the service of larger loan installments.
And what about the form of the building?
A “nice building” is one that looks attractive from the entrance, usually from the access road.

If we are building for ourselves and not for our neighbors, we can see the house from this side when we come back, i.e. for a few minutes a day at most. In summer, we have much longer contact with him from the terrace and garden. However, what is most important for the residents are views of outside from various rooms, because these accompany them all year around. The “from” views are therefore at least as important as the “over” views of the building. Most of the problems signaled here appeared while working on this house. The exceptional openness of the investor to self-reflection and architect’s suggestions resulted in a project which,although it fully met the expectations of the contracting authority in the first phase,changed its ideas about real needs so much that he decided to change the program and a new version of the house.

When starting the design process, the investor already had a preliminary MPZP analysis. On its basis and on the basis of previous experience, it was decided that the house must be a two-story house with bedrooms on the upper floor. The initial guidelines included, in addition to the standard program: an office,guest room,lounge,gym and spa. The charming grove on the eastern side of the plot had a significant influence on the decision to purchase it. The obvious nuisance,the viaduct of the busy Pszczyna – Racibórz road from the south and degraded farm building on the neighboring properties seemed to be of little importance to the owner.
The revolution began when the extensive house program was able to fit on one floor in a way that ensures proper connections between the various parts of the house. The plot is quite large, the ground floor rooms are a much less exposed to noise from the road, stairs are always a nuisance, so as it is not necessary, there is no need to build a second floor. The most important rooms, those where you stay for a long time and rest, the living room, bedrooms and spa open to the garden and forest,the rest protect the interior and terrace from unattractive neighborhood.

1-office,2-kitchen+living,3-playroom,4-firewood storage,5-bedroom,6-room
7-room,8-outdoor kitchen,9-spa/gym,10-sauna,11-pool,12-garage

The functions are located along the communication axis in three blocks : south-east,west and north-east. The focal point of the house is the living room leading to a large terrace – a kind of open living space with its own outdoor mini kitchen and direct access to the spa.
The entrance block (south-east) protects the terrace from road noise and unwanted views.

The western block has functions that are closely related to room on the eastern side. At the entrance, on the left, there is a study/guest room and a kitchen with a pantry,on the right,a wardrobe accessible from the garage. Adjacent to the kitchen is the living room facing the terrace and the garden. The playroom and the communal bathroom are located opposite the rooms for children. The sleeping block (north-west) ends with the parent’s room with an independent wardrobe and bathroom. The further from the entrance,the more private the functions become.
At the entrance, random people may appear, and if necessary,they are invited to the office.

In the living room,terrace and spa part,apart from the household members,also invited guests can stay, and at the end of the layout there is a private bathroom of your house.

While working on the concept,the investor completely verified his idea of the house and despite the fact that all his expectations were met and the initial calculation did not exceed the budget assumptions,he decided to make a new version of the project, in which some functions were limited and ideas from the first version were developed.