Szumilas Superior Cottages by Akurat Studio
Szumilas Superior Cottages are year-round holiday homes in Lubiatow, Poland, designed by Akurat Studio in 2021.
Description
Superior cottages are a new type of houses of a higher standard, also they are the next stage of expansion of year-round holiday houses called Szumilas. Six “classic” cottages were built as the first part of the project in June 2018. Then we built three new houses of a higher standard in July 2021.
Superior cottages are located in a small village, Lubiatowo, which is one kilometer away from the shore of the Baltic Sea. The houses are surrounded by forests, dunes, and wild beaches. The idea of superior cottages is to make them integrate into the neighboring nature. Our new houses are modern, unique, and consistent with the previous part of the project. That is why we resigned from “industrial elements” such as metal sheets on the roof. We also hid the gutters and outlets by covering them completely. Wooden roofs and ventilated façade made of Swedish wood are resistant to various weather conditions. The wood will tarnish over time and it will maintain a slightly straw-like color harmonizing with the color of the surrounding meadows. Under the façade, there is a fully water-resistant sheathing. Each building is timber-framed and insulated with wood. The window joinery is made of energy-saving aluminum. An important, minimalistic detail of design is windows that have hidden hinges and drainers. We have created an arcade next to the terrace windows which provides roofing and makes it possible to use the terrace even on windy or rainy days. The entrance door that is hidden in the façade is made of aluminum. On the terrace we installed HS triple–track windows that after opening change the living room space into a 30 – meter terrace smoothly.
We invited our friends, Rafał Kaletowski and Maciej Ryniewicz from “Akurat Studio”, to design the houses. Our main assumptions concerned consistency with the environment and the usage of high-quality, natural materials. As far as interiors are concerned, designers offered oak veneer in four warm color versions as the leitmotif. The paint of the walls and furniture refers to the colors of the forest and beach, and it is in warm shades. In the project appear vinyl wallpapers, wool on upholstery, brushed shivakashi granite on countertops, and window sills. All the pieces of furniture were designed especially for our interiors. The design of the interiors harmonizes with the architecture through the use of openwork lamellas as cabinet fronts or metal frames that match the color of the windows. The laminates used to create the furniture are French POLYREY and have been selected to refer to the colors of the forest and surrounding nature. The interiors of the new houses were designed to be even cozier and more elegant. The faucets are Italian “Treemme” in a brushed nickel finish which perfectly matches the door and window fittings made of brushed steel. On the ground floor, there is a Spanish handmade CIR ANIFATTURE CERAMICHE mosaic and at the top, there is a Finnish waxed floorboard.
Designers first created a functional layout and then the body of the building allowing the full development of the interior space. The superior houses are 75m2 and have two bedrooms on the first floor, living room with the kitchen and bathroom on the ground floor. In the living room, there are openwork stairs that are made of sheet metal in the paint of the windows. The stairs provide additional space under them where there is a space for iconic, Polish design the 300-139 Stefan armchair from the 1960s thoroughly renovated.
The space around houses was meticulously designed by the designer of greenery, Patryk Boć from boc-pracownia.pl. Around 1200 seedlings of ornamental grass, shrubs, and trees reminiscent of dunes and beach vegetation were planted around superior cottages.
Photography courtesy of Krzysztof Kucharski
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- by Matt Watts
