In Podkowa Leśna, amongst tall pines, English oaks and hornbeams, a detached house with a floor area of 237 square metres has been built, designed by the MFRMGR architectural practice. It is a modern piece of architecture that does not impose itself on its surroundings – rather, it seeks harmony with them, adapts to the existing landscape and consciously chooses coexistence with nature over dominance.
The design process began with a lengthy search for a suitable plot. The clients chose an unusual plot, carved out of a larger site and adjoining a house dating from the 1990s. Its greatest asset turned out to be the mature trees, which, from the very first sketches, set the direction for thinking about the building’s form, structure and functional layout. In a garden city such as Podkowa Leśna, the protection of green spaces is not merely a formality – these are real constraints which the architects treated as a starting point rather than an obstacle.
A house made up of parts
The results of a detailed tree survey defined the boundaries of what could be built. The architecture literally had to find its place amongst the trunks and root systems. The solution was a building composed of several smaller volumes, which allowed most of the existing vegetation to be preserved, brought natural light into the interiors and gave the whole a more intimate scale. The house is immersed in the forest, and its form stems from careful observation of the site, rather than from a desire to impose a geometric order upon it.
Building with respect for the site
The requirements for protecting the greenery necessitated a number of non-standard solutions. Part of the structure was designed to minimise interference with the trees’ root systems, and the services were routed using the jacking method between the roots. Even the access road to the garage was treated as part of the landscape – it was constructed from galvanised Vema grating, which allows water and air to pass through, minimising the impact on the soil and vegetation.
The three-storey house is topped with a flat roof featuring skylights, allowing light to penetrate deep into the interior. The façade is clad in pine planks designed to age naturally over time and develop a patina. In selected areas, the timber gives way to openwork screens that shield the terraces hidden amongst the trees. The palette of materials is understated; the architects opted for wood, graphite-coloured aluminium and raw textures evoking the colours of tree trunks, shade and the diffused light of the forest.
Interiors opening onto the garden
The house was designed for a family of four who valued a balance between privacy and closeness to nature. Large sliding glass panels blur the boundary between the interior and the garden. The living room with its fireplace serves as the home’s central space, whilst the private terraces adjoining the bedrooms allow one to literally step into the treetops. This is architecture that not only facilitates contact with nature – it intensifies it.
This project by the MFRMGR studio demonstrates that a house in the forest need not be a statement of human presence. It can become part of the landscape, operate within its context and function in harmony with the principles dictated by the location. In Podkowa Leśna, a building has been created that does not compete with nature – it works in harmony with it, creating a living space immersed in greenery. Well done!
design: MFRMGR
team: Marta Frejda, Michał Gratkowski, Łukasz Ptak, Waldemar Nowicki, Zofia Koniecko
photographs: Oni Studio
See also: Detached house | Minimalism | Modernism | Recommended | whiteMAD on Instagram
