GAISS has designed a private house for a young family within the green suburbs of riga, latvia. the challenge of the project was to transform the peculiarity of an L-shaped plot into a spatial quality. the character of the surrounding residential area is reflected in the use of the pitch roof construction that reinteprets the traditional typology, including 4 blocks with pitches in various angles.

gaiss interpret traditional pitch roof typology to fit a house in an l shaped plot 1

all images by reinis hofmanis

 

 

since a narrow part of the green parcel is connected to the adjoining street, GAISS placed a section of the house on this stretch while forming a focus towards the garden in the wider backside area. in this way, the land efficiency of the project was maximized. the house can be experienced as a journey, starting from the public street and moving towards the private garden in the back. a covered passageway runs along an unheated garage and creates sheltered access to the house. this path continues further inside the house through a wardrobe area and past two bedrooms. 

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the end of this axis is marked by an ample living space with an open kitchen. this area has wall to wall glazing which opens towards the garden in the south. a sliding partition has been placed in order to divide a nook for watching tv from the rest of the space. the final section of the house consists of a home office and a master bedroom. all of the living spaces are oriented towards south-east and south-west to maximize solar gains, which help to reduce heating demand during the winter.

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an overhang shades the glazed facade in the living room to protect from excessive heat in the summer. because of the variety of inclinations of the roofscape, each room has a different ceiling angle, creating  conditions for the respective functionality. the structure consists of lightweight concrete block masonry that is combined with timber for roof construction and wall sections containing windows. the house blends well within the context while maintaining a strong presence of contemporary aesthetics.

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project info:

name: house with four roofs
architecture office: GAISS
team: arnita melzoba, kārlis melzobs, agnese mālniece
location: riga, latvia
size: 245 m²

 

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | designboom