Big Shadow
Minimalism in the countryside according to Adelina and Rado Iliev – a summer retreat in Strandzha mountain with room for two tents on the veranda.
photos Adelina Ilieva
The beginning
The plot – a vegetable garden, belonged to Adelina’s parents. In 1979 her dad built a 10 sqm timber bungalow. Today – 20 years later, the spot is occupied by their new house. The basic brief was for a summer house with a living room-porch outside which could be closed and glazed in the future – if they decide to turn it into an all-seasons place. The house retained the bungalow scheme – an open porch front with bedrooms to the back. There is space for more people, two toilets, a proper shower and a good size open kitchen.
Spatial comfort
Most of the construction work was completed between March and September 2007. The house has a rendered and painted concrete-and-brick shell. The roof is made of insulation “sandwich” panels, produced by Metalni Konstruktsii, Bourgas. The windows have frames of aluminium profiles, and the timber doors and furniture were built on the spot by Rado, because the carpenter, hired at the time let them down. In the summer of 2008, the external deck was built and the timber furniture added. A tent on the porch could be an extra guest room – like the old times when sometimes there would be 2-3 tents dotted between the rows of cabbages and tomato beds. The terrace is framed by a lime tree to the east. In fact the tree set out the position of the house on the plot and the floor level, so that in June the east sea breeze carries the smell of the blooming lime onto the deck.
Open plan
“We liked the idea of the single floor one could wander around barefoot with a glass of wine in hand... And even on a rainy day you could still be outside and have enough space to spend a whole day without leaving the house floor. This was also a more cost-effective approach – stairs and balconies were out of the scope. The semi-open volume of the terrace at night, with the lights on, also creates the sense of interior.” The sizes of all enclosed rooms are kept to a minimum giving more space for the terrace. Windows are small, providing privacy and making the interior of the rooms feel like a beach bungalow. The good roof insulation and the north-facing windows provide pleasant coolness on a hot August day. The front and back windows are aligned, so one could see through the spaces. This emphasizes the feeling of transparency of the volumes.
Light and gravity
The deep shadow of the terrace is emphasized by the dark painted back wall. The dark colour is soothing on the eyes on a bright summer day. The same paint was also used for the transitional lobbies and bathrooms separating the bedrooms from the terrace. Walking through the dark lobbies helps the eyes to adjust to the lower light level in the bedrooms. The raised thresholds of the external doors enhance the sense of walking in and out.
The 10 cm shadow gap at ground makes the building look as if it is hovering in the air. A large boulder at the front south-east corner conveys the idea of gravity and protection. It also works as a balancing anchor confirming the position of the house and keeping it in place.
Local reviews
“The building looks like no other house around, and not like a house at all, which was also part of the concept. We have heard names as “stable” and “bus stop” but generally the locals like it and all the people who worked on the site said it was great. We quite like the agricultural look and the single pitch roof which repeats the gentle slope of the hills to the east. An architect who is a friend of ours laughed when he saw the model. “I can’t believe you did a model for this.” He should have seen all the options we went through before we settled on that scheme.”
Project: Adelina Ilieva and Rado Iliev
Total floor area: 100 sqm
Construction and fitting costs: about 65,000 BGN
Adelina Ilieva and Rado Iliev
They have both graduated in Architecture in Sofia. They have lived in London since 1991. Adelina(1964) is a freelance designer and photographer. Rado(1965) works as a designer for Gensler London.
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