Trim House by KWK Promes
Trim House is a single-family house in Vilnius, Lithuania, designed by KWK Promes | Robert Konieczny. Shaped by a suburban site with old trees and a loose pattern of houses and summer cottages, it answers changing regulations with a compact triangular plan. Raised living and sleeping levels let the interior take in daylight, extend toward the garden, and keep the private rooms above ground level.
About Trim House
In 2016, the architects were invited, along with several international studios, to take part in a closed competition for a single-family house in one of Vilnius’s suburban districts, organized by a private client. The area is marked by loose, traditional development, with houses and summer cottages set among trees and broad recreational grounds. On the competition plot, and in the surrounding area, there were once wooden houses from the interwar period, though none have survived.
Raising part of the house by one level brings more daylight into the interior and, together with the living area, turns the patio into an extension of the garden. The elevated first floor holds the private night zone. Bedrooms open onto a terrace above the ground-floor volume, allowing residents to stay close to nature while retaining privacy and security.
In 2017, before the team had given the spatial motif a name, the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union came to power and introduced regulations that reduced the allowable building footprint by 50 percent. The driveway was also redirected, with the new route leading directly into the garden.
The client began looking for another site, but the architects persuaded them to remain on the original plot and reduce the house’s area by 40 percent. That decision produced a triangular floor plan. The larger garden and improved access to sunlight—especially important in this wooded setting—became further reasons to trim the house. Even as the scale changed, the core idea remained intact.
Photography by Jakub Certowicz
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