A talented Vilnius company takes care of the new home of the family that moved from Belarus to Lithuania
Belarusians Alexei and Nadzeya left Minsk with their children in 2020, shortly after Aliaksandr Lukashenko won the presidential election for the sixth time in a row.
Although the family was building a new home in the capital, their IT business was booming, and they no longer saw their future in their homeland under a dictator.
Refugees from the political regime settled in Vilnius – they bought two apartments in Žvėrynas district to be able to unite them. After all, their three teenagers needed separate rooms for their children and their parents needed jobs, especially when their work moved away for a long time.
Trusted by a professional
“How did they find us? He just found a property page online and typed the word “architects” and first called the Do Architects team.
However, colleagues said that they were very busy and recommended our studio, ”recalled the members of the Heima Architects team, Povilas Daugis and Povilas Žakauskas, together with Rūta Kazėnaitė, 220 sq. M. m area of †‹вЂ‹ houses with 160 square meters. m terrace for refugees installed in just 8 months.
Interestingly, they met with these clients only twice, the first time they came to inspect the premises, and the second when everything was finished and the architects handed over the apartment keys to the family.
It will be clear to the trio of architects that it will be easy and simple to work with as soon as it gets better with the clients.
These are people who respect the work of others, so they immediately made it clear that they would trust the professionals and be extremely attentive to their suggestions.
“It simply came to our notice then. Although we are representatives of cultures, the work went as smoothly as ever.
They trusted us from the first conversation.
In addition, it was felt that they were communicating with architects more than once – the family was halfway through the construction of their house in Minsk, so the tasks and questions formulated for us were clear and purposeful, ”said P.Žakauskas.
Feared unnecessarily
Of course, after hearing that they would design for Belarusians, the architects considered whether or not to break their principles and create a Slavic style so popular, also called a lightweight classic with moldings, glitter and many decorations.
But this fear dissipated as soon as I saw the customers – modestly dressed and intelligent. And during the first minutes of the conversation, they made it clear that they only wanted natural materials, lots of light and a bass walk at home to feel the tree under their feet.
Next, there are three ascetically equipped children’s rooms with only the necessary furniture, a large common space for family evenings, a parents’ workplace and a kitchen.
By the way, this family allowed them to choose the rooms from the drawings, and later the work chairs for each of their children.
The architecture is quite uniform
But isn’t it settled on creating like-like interiors dominated by the same natural materials, similarly divided spaces?
“It is true that we often discuss this with each other.
When photos of our and colleagues’ works collide in the interior catalogs, you can really see that most of the interiors are “from the same store.”
Furniture and accessories of a similar color, on the other hand, there are not many natural materials, so all of them are colored and very much. Although you really want something new, fresh, it is very difficult to implement in a private space, ”said the developers.
Then sometimes the team of Heima Architects thinks not about how to use something new or unseen, but on the contrary – what not to do, to limit oneself to the space already available.
Such a decision can be unexpectedly great.
This is what they call the interior of Nadzha’s and Alexei’s house – pure and minimalist.
“Another important thing is not only the materials, but also the space in the interior. And in the apartments you will not change it. These are also the similarities we are talking about, “said P. Daugaugis.
True, the housing of the Belarusian family is a bit unconventional – two apartments with terraces above them are connected. By the way, one of the apartments was perfectly equipped, but everything had to be peeled without pity.
The challenge was the attic space
Now, as soon as you enter the apartment, you enter the hall, it is a combination of apartments. It is designed with the favorite element of this team of architects – a new, bypassed volume, which accommodates utility rooms – an outdoor wardrobe, a laundry room, a food storage room, and a toilet.
All the main areas of the apartment are located around this volume – four bedrooms, a staircase to the roof terrace, a kitchen and a main living room.
Exit to the roof terrace opens the light to the darkest part of the apartment – a kitchen designed next to the stairs, which connects to the main living space of the family.
Kone 90 sq. M. all the most important work and rest areas of the family are arranged in a lot.
Attic space gives housing distinctive features, but it posed challenges for architects. Deep window openings and small windows create cozy attic spaces, but they limit the ingress of light into the rooms, so only proper light, a warm natural color palette can help here.
The wood surfaces of different types and shades were combined in the house. Bleached larch parquet is used for the floor, light ash and clay plaster for the wall decoration, and the furniture is made of natural oak.
The bathrooms are made of natural stone terracotta tiles, and the kitchen is made of stainless steel.
20 requests per day
Laconic but cozy lighting is designed, the luminaires are minimalist.
However, many light sources have been used, creating a cozy accent. Architects illuminating the common areas have chosen narrower-angle chandeliers that allow light to separate global areas.
The family was satisfied with the Lithuanian work and they will be satisfied with their friends, who are more and more in our country.
At that time, Heima Architects is expanding its team to include two Ukrainian colleges, although it receives at least twenty assortments from the country every day.