Njiric+ Arhitekti designs Double Villa Bukovac in Zagreb as "case study" for low&density housing

Croatian studio Njiric+ Arhitekti has completed a low-slung duo of homes in Zagreb, Croatia, creating two pavilion-like structures that are clad in perforated brick and metal.

The project is named Double Villa Bukovac after the suburban neighbourhood in which it is located, which is currently being developed as part of the Zagreb General Urban Development Plan.

Local studio Njiric+ Arhitekti described the project as both a “direct response and critique” to this development plan, rejecting the typical guidelines around building height and density in favour of smaller-sized homes on larger plots.

“The project embraces a vision of reimagining the green foothills of Zagreb for a lower-density residential typology,” the studio’s partners, Hrvoje Njirić and Iskra Filipović, told Dezeen.

“It favours smaller volumes, lower structures, a gentler footprint and larger plots with a minimum area of 1,200 square metres.”

“Departing from the conventional vertical arrangement by floors, this project implements a horizontal layout across two adjacent lots. In this way, the house acts as a case study, proposing a new standard of urban decency for our city,” they added.

The long, narrow form of Double Villa Bukovac follows the contour of the gently sloping site, allowing level access into two garages from the road to the north and access out onto a raised garden to the south.

The street-facing facade of the villas is clad entirely in Turkish bricks laid in a shiner arrangement to create a perforated effect, with two concrete staircases leading up to the entrance of each.

On the opposite side, the homes overlook a garden through facades of full-height windows and glass doors, which open onto a dot-paved walkway beneath a steel pergola.

These two contrasting conditions informed the internal layouts, with staircases and bathrooms housed in the more enclosed, darker half of the villas, and the living, dining and kitchen spaces and smaller bedrooms positioned to overlook the garden.

Separating the two villas is a central shared courtyard onto which the living areas open, which has been paved in stone and planted with trees.

The main bedroom of each villa is positioned on a smaller first floor at each end of the site, clad in contrasting panels of metal that were made by repurposing galvanised cable tray mesh.

Each of these first-floor spaces opens out onto a small paved circle atop the green roofs of the home below, providing views out across the city and surrounding trees.

“The facades are expressed through contrasting qualities: the ground floor, in contact with the terrain, adopts an earthy, robust appearance – constructed from inexpensive Turkish bricks to emphasise weight and permanence,” Nijirić and Filipović said.

“The upper floor, in dialogue with the sky, appears lighter, more transparent, and reflective. It features unconventional, low-cost materials such as repurposed galvanised cable tray mesh, which imparts a subtle, ephemeral quality to the facade.”

Other projects in Croatia recently featured in Dezeen include OFIS Arhitekti’s renovation of a stone home on the island of Cres and a pig farm with a lattice-like facade.

The photography is by Bosnic+Dorotic.

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