VILA_ CROATIA

Faculty of Architecture and Design STU in Bratislava

Project idea

The object itself is sensitively designed with care to preserving the original vegetation. The user has the opportunity to regenerate body and mind in a place full of nature with a direct view of the sea. The main points of the project are the preservation of vegetation /minimizing interference with the topography/, openness /translucency, airiness/, monolithic materiality /concrete/, sustainability /use of solar panels/.
When designing the villa, I tried to respect the area and the terrain, so I chose a one-story building with an open, functional roof with a view of the sea. Embedding the project into the landscape is a reaction to the protected area of ​​the site. In search of the smallest intervention in the topography - a house on stilts that gently touches the ground. The original vegetation was almost completely preserved. If it would be possible to lift the object with a crane and place it in another place, the original territory would remain practically untouched, without a trace of construction work.

Project description

The main task of the villa is to accommodate the user, to provide them with the necessary privacy for relaxation, the villa does not have a feeling of everyday life with its appearance or interior, therefore there is no television in the villa. Each room has a separate bathroom, a view of the sea with an exit to the terrace. The building is single-storey, which means it is suitable for any person with various illnesses or disabilities.
When entering the house, we enter an open space and the center of the villa with a direct view of the sea. The floor plan is structurally open, where the functions of living, sleeping and relaxing are separated. There are no closed living spaces or dark corridors. The living room with kitchen and dining room expands to the landscape thanks to the glass wall of the atrium and the terrace with the infinity pool. To the left of the living room is the master bedroom of the villa with a wardrobe and a bathroom. We enter the private bathroom through the wardrobe, thanks to this solution we minimize the noise towards the bedroom. From the master bedroom we have a view of the atrium, the sea, the pool, with the option of exiting to the terrace. From the living room to the right, we have two bedrooms, with separate bathrooms, also with an exit to the terrace and a view of the sea. On the right side of the building with a northeast orientation, there is a guest toilet, a laundry room and a warehouse, which is accessed from the northwest side of the building. There is also a staircase leading to the public beach from the northwest side of the villa. From the terrace, we have the opportunity to go to the functional roof thanks to the stairs in the glass atrium. On both sides of the functional roof, there are solar panels in total number of 40. In the middle part of the roof, there is an all-glass railing, so that the user has the widest possible view. There are concrete beds around the solar panels where trailing plants are planted. Concrete beds also separate the functional roof from the panels, in these beds there are taller plants that create the environment of the entire functional roof.

Technical information

The villa is built of reinforced concrete and steel. The structural system is a combination of wall and column systems. The perimeter shell of the villa is exposed concrete. The entire floor is formed as a monolithic construction with a foundation on stilts that extend into the load-bearing soil and serve to secure the building during earthquakes and preserve the original topography. Columns on the 1st floor with a diameter of 200 mm have a load-bearing function. The largest pile span is 6.5 m.
The roof is functional and flat. Around the villa there is a console made of reinforced concrete, which serves as a shade for the terrace and also serves as a roof in case of rain. The entire floor in the interior is gray, cast terrazzo, outside on the terrace and covered parking there is cast concrete.
The dominant part is a swimming and relaxing infinity pool with a strained water level. The pool is on the same level as the floor on the 1st floor. The swimming pool is located above ground on four piles, it is also made out of concrete, as is the entire villa.
Concrete is the main element of the project, it was used because it is a material that ages just like nature and at the same time behaves optimally in environmental conditions. Another advantage is its easy maintenance. Concrete has lower construction costs than other materials with the same advantages. The structure is raw, revealing the construction process, which, although rigorous and precise, also shows the imperfections of handwork. Work, material and technology are inseparable.
In terms of sustainability, in addition to minimal interference with the existing topography, we use rainwater harvesting for irrigation, natural lighting in all rooms, artificial lighting exclusively with low-energy light bulbs, solar panels placed on the roof of the villa, and treatment of exposed concrete with solvent-free products.

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