Tadeusz Lemański designed the building – known as Domo Dom – for a single resident who was keen to have a garage in his home, despite local planning rules that tightly restricted the size and shape of the new structure. The front of this house in Kraków, Poland, is curved dramatically up towards the sky so that Polish architect Tadeusz Lemański could squeeze a garage underneath (+ slideshow). Three skylights bring daylight into the space, while built-in wooden fittings offer seating and storage. This allowed a boxy garage volume to be slotted in underneath. At the rear of the house, a wall of glazing allows the resident to open his living space out to an elevated terrace and a lawn. «The concept of the house is a simple cube that includes the main functions – living room, kitchenette and bedroom,» he said. «Their shape underlines the dynamism of the building that rises in the same direction,» added Lemański. «At the same time, the house has to meet land development conditions that impose using gable roofs.»
Lemański’s solution was to create a single-storey volume and abstract it, so the end angles up towards the sky. In the bedroom, the unusual shape of the roof creates a ceiling that rises up to a point then curves down so much that it almost meets the floor. To echo the materials used on the more traditional neighbouring structures, the architect specified grey sandstone and black titanium-zinc panels for the exterior cladding. Ground floor plan – click for larger imageFirst floor plan – click for larger imageSection one – click for larger imageSection two – click for larger image The garage door fronts the building, so the main entrance is situated along one of the side walls. «In order to fulfil the development conditions, the bedroom was lifted to the loft and the garage was moved under it.»
The house is located in a suburban neighbourhood on the edge of Wolski Forest, west Kraków.
