Six Houses in Sapanca

Klaus-Peter Gast

Description

An attractive, generous site challenged the architect to find an unusual solution: he arranged six detached houses on a sloping polygonal plot in such a way that an almost dynamic group relationship was created. The houses are so disposed in a strictly right-angled structure that they seem to refuse to acknowledge the lines of the plot, but their charm lies in this subtle contrast. The position of the houses is very carefully balanced out across the area, so that despite the self-confident independence of the structure it is possible to discern sensitive treatment of location and topography. The buildings emerge as an ensemble with urban character, in a highly tensioned-filled composition of solitaires and pairs of buildings.

It is not just the unity of the design in terms of dimension, façade and material that brings them together, but above all a basement storey containing communal facilities and also the bedrooms for two of the houses. This approach takes advantage of a slope on the terrain that can be made out architecturally in two stages. A double building mediates with a third level at the second edge within the terrain, and here a two-storey building almost like a tower concludes the group.

Carefully balanced distances, gaps with steps and staggering ultimately create a kind of village structure. The living areas are placed on the second level of the pedestal roof garden, on the third level are bedrooms and in the solitaire at the back another living area, with bedrooms above it again on the upper floor. A view into the sweep of countryside is guaranteed from all living rooms, giving the occupants a sense of individuality and exclusivity. A large swimming pool in the southern part of the plot brings the social community together.