The slope House

The Slope House, a project by Tharm Architects, is located in the village of Vrrinë in Durrës. The building is developed on 3 different levels, taking advantage of the slope terrain. An existing one-story house in site was taken as a reference for the new building project. To this existing structure we added another floor, adapting to the requirements of the client.

To avoid obstructing visibility for the object behind, the new volume is pushed towards the southern boundary providing view and wide space with two squares in front of the building. The same volume is already stretched and in more elegant ratios.

The entry road to the building provides access to both houses, while the landscape is organized on 2 levels. The roof of the building is thought to come in 2 slopes – a saltbox roof, resembling the slope of the terrain. The main entrance of the building is at level 0. The corridor orients us east to the bedroom, west to the kitchen, while to the south there is the staircase connecting the three levels of the building. At the same time the house can be accessed at level -1 from the yard. At level -1 there are premises such as dining area, living room, toilet, storage room and a closed garage.

What is special about the solution of this house is that the cooking area is located at level 0, which communicates vertically with the lower level through a one-ramp ladder. Visually, the premises communicate through the atrium in which the salon takes place. On the third level of the apartment there is the couple’s room with additional functions such as wardrobe, toilet and exit to the balcony.

The tendency in the building is to use the most natural materials such as brick, iron sheet, glass, stone tiles paving and grass. The building is clad in decorative brick with the aim of highlighting the simplicity of the volume. The smaller volumes of the balconies are wrapped in iron sheets, distinguished from the main body of the building through the white color. Window frames and shadings are treated with the same principle.

The goal for the Slope House project was to provide a minimum intervention in site in both form and materiality, fulfilling clients requirements for functionality and ensuring comfort and intimacy.