oktáva houses

The central theme is the access residential street, or rather a semi-public space the designed houses wind around. But it is not only the access path and road. It is a place where neighbours meet. Unfenced front gardens occupy a substantial section of the street. Fences do not fit in this place; free green and trees do. Only a few neighbours live here, and so, there is nothing to be afraid of. It is nice to be close to others. Their function and the position to the houses’ internal layout make the tranquil private gardens a counter to the communally conceived street environment. Due to the linear character of the development, poorly exploitable spaces between houses could be excluded. These gardens were designed as a compact space as much as possible into which the significant section of houses’ habitable areas is oriented. The layout scheme is developed according to the principle of a duplex dwelling scheme (the residential street is recessed by approximately half a storey against the private gardens) to adjust the houses to two different terrain levels. A central stairwell connects all floors, and each landing is an entry platform into other sections of the house. Ascending the staircase, we pass by individual functional units in the house. From the entry hall with an adjacent garage and technical rooms, we can enter the section with a guest room first and follow up to the level with living areas, a dining room and a kitchen . On the two top mezzanine floors, we get to the children’s rooms area and, on the highest floor, there is the master bedroom and amenities. The architecture of the designed houses should, also, reflect the principal starting points of the design described above. Firstly, the interior layout reflects the architecture and, therefore, the previously mentioned interconnection of the interior and the exterior. The primary effect is the segmentation of an otherwise minimalistic building corresponding with volumes of its rooms. By dividing the volumes into cubic forms, the houses’ mass is reduced. Although quite austere in their forms, our homes put on an amicable, sometimes even humble expression to their occupants.