Cichy House

The fairly long plot lies in the North-South direction parallel to the motorway A1 at a distance of about 100 m, this makes the site vulnerable to noise from the highway.

The form of a detached house was created as a response to the unique site conditions. The existing sound screen does not fully act as noise barriers. The oblong orientation of the house placed in N-S direction is an outcome of these site conditions. The longitudinal axes of the house form structural walls simultaneously acting as an insulation to the noise outside. The house itself becomes an acoustic barrier because of its parallel orientation to the highway.

The arrangement of the walls creates ‘tunnels’ that divide the interior into zones specific to their users: rooms intended for parents in the western tunnel, children's rooms and the kitchen in the eastern tunnel. Between these two ‘tunnels’ is a shared living room. These ‘tunnels’ open to the views of gardens and terraces.

The glazing is offseted from the walls and the roof which gives two major advantages. It limits the noise from the motorway and protects the interior spaces from the summer sun and winter sun. Originally the walls were designed to be in concrete but due the lack of availability of suitable contractor the walls had to plastered and painted white.

The entrance court is guarded with heavy wooden gates. One of the unique aspects of the project is the lawn which is not flat but sculpted in form of ripples almost representing a lake or a sea. This allows for a play of light & shadow during the daytime making the lawn appear as waves in motion.

TOPROJEKT: arch. Marek Wawrzyniak, arch. Joanna Wawrzyniak, arch. Karol Wawrzyniak, arch. Katarzyna Mazurek, arch. Marek Lis, and arch. Alina Kudla