This superb residence in Targovishte, Bulgaria was designed by I/O Architects and was completed in 2014. It features 7,233 square feet of space and flaunts a horizontal layout as well as large windows that ensure breathtaking views of the nearby mountains and hills. The residents are able to enjoy spacious dining and living areas, a lavish master bedroom, a home office and a sizeable porch. There’s also a pair of guest bedrooms as well as a garage for three cars.
As far as sustainability is concerned, the abode receives passive shading from the sun during the warm summer days, while clear glass windows maximize the flow of natural light throughout the living areas during the winter. Cooling and heating, including floor heating, is achieved with the help of a heat pump and a heat exchanger. The unique design of the house is a direct response to the topography of the site. As one enters the home diagonally, one notices that the height of the indoor spaces varies depending on their degree of privacy.
From the architect:
Single family house. Large living and dining space. Home office. One master bedroom. Two guest bedrooms. Large veranda space. Three cars garage.
The topography of the park environment around the house resembles a cavea of an antic theater. The long horizontal structure is facing the favorable sun orientation and the view in slight opposition of the slope. This way entering diagonally into the house the height of the spaces changes in relation to their grade of privacy. In the opposite direction and apart from the main progression are the guest rooms over the compressed space of the entrance and the garage.
The internal structure corresponds to the complementary space of the stairs-like veranda facing the park as well as to the terraced yards behind the house. The monolith appearance of the stone claddedfaçades and the oversized architectural elements, from one side and the perspective corrections of the front elevation from the other, modulate in an ambiguous way the scale of the large structure.
Sustainability
Passive sun shading in the summer. Clear glass for sun energy gain in the winter. Heat pump with ground-coupled heat exchanger for heating and cooling. Floor heating. Use of local stone. Low thermal conductivity envelope.
Architects: I/O Architects
Location: Targovishte, Bulgaria
Site Area: 6970 sq. m.
Area: 672.0 sqm
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Assen Emilov
