Architect’s Firm: OFIS Architects
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Program: Residential
Client: Private
Area: 228m²
Year: 2017
Type: Family House
Status: Built
Project Team: Rok Oman, Spela Videcnik
Andrej Gregoric, Janez Martincic
Jamie Lee, Lorenzo Conti, Maja Vecerina,
Sam Eadington, Alexandra Volkov,
Aliaksandra Dalmatava, Anastasia Barasheva,
Chiara Girolami, Darko Ivanovski, Elisa Ribilotta,
Łukasz Czech, José Navarrete Jiménez,
Mariangela Fabbri
Structural Engineering: Milan Sorc, Projecta d.o.o.
Mechanical Engineering: Vavtar Inzeniring d.o.o.
Electrical Engineering: Elcom d.o.o.
Main Contractor: Bostjan Perme, Permiz d.o.o.
The Villa is located in Trnovo within the city center of Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is the renovation of a small existing house dating from 1934. The existing house was designed by architect Emil Navinsek, known for innovative space concepts of a school non-corridor plan.
He designed the house next to his residence for his two unmarried elderly sisters who lived together on a small surface of the only 50m2 per floor. The street where the house is situated was mostly built in the 60s and 70s with typical one-family residential houses made in a combination of white plaster render and dark wood cladding.
Floor Level Intersections
The extension is creating a different intersection between the old and new parts on each floor is composed of 3 cube volumes, each in a proportion of a shoe-box like the existing house floorplan. Boxes are stacked with 90 degrees shifts creating overhangs and terraces. The volumes are clad in dark wood – spruce vertical lattice – in the context of the street architecture.
The structure is a combination of a concrete base, metal frames, and wooden substructure. The Interior of the new part is formed mostly by wall cladding creating integrated wardrobes and walls. The old house is simply renovated keeping all the existing textures and materials.
Interior of an old house and new extension are connected in different layouts – new extension perforates through the old walls creating associated facilities: groundfloor as a living area, first floor with kids rooms and guest room, top floor with master bedroom and living.
The heart of the house – the intersection of volumes and connector of old and new is a staircase attached to a main vertical concrete wall. Inspired by Adolf Loos interiors forms elevated podiums, niches, wardrobes, small sitting areas and are partly extended into small spaces in the existing part of the house creating private living areas on each floor.