Deferring to the landscape is easier said than done. That topographical feature you thought would dovetail nicely with the scheme on the drawing board may prove to be a solo act, not a team player. But when an architect is prepared to give more than to take, the sympathy between site and building can be stunning.
Peeping just above grade on one side and wide open to water on the other, this house in the Hungarian countryside — designed by the Budapest-based architectural firm Hello Wood — reads almost more as a geologic formation than a fabrication of wood and concrete. “It was a design principle to respect the existing terrain as much as possible, and we aim to implement our projects with minimal environmental impact,” notes lead architect Péter Oravecz. “Another fundamental principle of ours is to give back to green space as much as we take from it. This led to the creation of the green roof equipped with an irrigation system. The existing plant stock on the site was planted on the roof of the house.”
The structure is a study in sophisticated simplicity, comprising a living space and bedroom with a detached guest room, all oriented to a deck measuring over 1,400 square feet. Wood rules here. The deck is made of thermal-modified larch, the interior is a cocoon of cross-laminated timber (a sustainable material prized for its load-bearing quality), and the exterior is appointed with Shou Sugi Ban, the charred cedar cladding that originated in Japan. Essentially a low-lying mass emerging from the bank of the pond, the house’s horizontality is broken by a concrete chimney (the anchor of a summer kitchen) that rises in the space between the primary living area and the guest accommodation.
Far from rustic but executed as a deeply intentional complement to the surrounding landscape, the house combines a nearly crystalline aspect with a distinct, senses-filling warmth. Oriented fully to the outdoors, one might think it as “the house that isn’t here.” And that’s a compliment, indeed.
Photography by György Palkó.
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