PROJECT REPORT: LUXURY HOMES
heating connected to a heat pump from two earth boreholes located under the slab – with ‘reverse operation’ used for cooling in the summer. The exterior air conditioning inlet comes into the space next to the cellar at a depth that avoids risk of freezing, which enables the air to be heated before it is recovered. Ventilation is distributed from the plant room which is located next to the garage, and in the floor structures towards the exhaust outlets into the plenum boxes. Vents are in the form of “almost invisible” slits in the edges where the floors meet the floor-to-ceiling windows. The recirculation then works through the inlets in the bathroom ceilings and the slits between the ceiling and veneer panels.
The garden hill The practice’s design influence stretches past the house’s four walls. Around the dedicated stone pathways towards the back of the plot a wine cellar is buried, and there’s a swimming pool with a covered ‘grotto’ terrace in timber.
The curved form of the grotto is the dominant feature of the garden, composed of graduated, rotated larch planks. This doubled as formwork for a hidden reinforced concrete shell sunk in the terrain and joining the grotto, creating a “cave” cut into the slope.
The pool is constructed of stainless steel, and utilises an edge overflow with a gutter, copying the slope of the adjoining terrain and creating an endless surface effect. The pool cover is hidden under a bench made of stainless steel rods immersed in the pool. On the other side of the hill, the wine cellar is an adaptation of the original brick vaulted cellar (a relic of the original allotment on the site), and equipped with interior steel waxed shelves for bottle storage. The cellar’s roof is covered with Irish moss, growing through reinforcing slate structures that copies the smooth shape of the hill.
The garden then flows around these elements as a “smooth carpet,” creating hidden bays protected from the outside that allow for panoramic views over the city, with vegetation protecting the site boundaries.
Privacy is further maintained by tall bamboo plants and grasses “organically connected” to the undulating terrain, complemented by several solitary woody plants selected due to their changing appearance during the year. The garden is also irrigated by the subsurface
ADF NOVEMBER 2021
groundwater, and from a drilled well and a reservoir hidden in the space above the grotto.
Success
According to Janda, the practice’s main focus throughout the project was “interconnecting physical and metaphysical layers of the project, resonating form and content, and engaging sculptural methods with the concept.”
Is perhaps in this that Lazy House’s success is best realised, with the project inherently tied to its surroundings, while standing as a sculptural form in its own right, together with its garden ‘grotto.’ The practice attributes much of its success on the project to the “absolute freedom” given by the client in the design process, “justified through an honest, non- dominant dialogue.” “Thanks to this,” says Janda, “we achieved results that exceed the expectations of both parties, and are not just an imprint of the intended vision.” A mark of the client’s satisfaction with the project – which endured a 14 year development process – is how Janda has gained a close friendship with the owner, so much so that they continue to tackle maintenance together, as well as other additions to the house. This, he concludes, serves to “develop and deepen its integrity.”
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The curved form of the grotto is the dominant feature of the garden, composed of gradually rotated larch planks, which doubled as formwork for a concrete ‘cave’
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