Gdynia, Poland
BJK Architekci was asked by three individual clients to design a group of apartment buildings where the main objective of this design was to create an intuitive, open space, which would, at the same time, provide its residents with a sense of privacy and autonomy of each plot.
This project was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
On three adjacent plots, and commissioned by three different Investors, the architects assumed the realization of their buildings that would be three stories high (B1 B2 B3).
In the architects’ view, it was essential to keep all three buildings in one and the same character, but also to respect their distinctiveness.
Lightsome elevations finished in bright hues refer to the close vicinity of the beach, embracing all the benefits offered by the location, as this particular part of the coast is said to have the best sun exposure in whole Poland – spacious glazing and terraces facing the sea.
Apartments on the ground floor open onto a garden with a swimming pool and a leisure area. There are representative entrances with open staircases and elevators.
One internal road, located where the border of the parcel, leads to three private underground garages. Directions of the world play a crucial role in the design of each apartment – living areas exposed to the west and viewing the sea in the south and east.
The idea focused on creating highly functional spaces to live in, clearly divided into a day and a night zone.
Elevations of all buildings form a relation between their big windows and the remaining wall surfaces.
The architects agreed on a single type of panoramic, sliding, aluminum facades made of Sky-Frame profiles.
The buildings’ walls differ in terms of materials and the structure of finishing.
B1 – large format slabs of Portuguese limestone and plastering in a ventilated technology; frameless glass balustrades without handrails.
B2 – light grey Brenna sandstone cut into 15 x 90 cm strips; openwork aluminum balustrades.
B3 – light cream Croatian limestone – Kirmeniak – cut into strips of various sizes; frameless glass balustrades with individual trapezoidal handrails turned on request.
All such elements as gutters and downspouts are concealed within the ventilated wall, whereas all junction boxes (gas, electricity, multimedia) are hidden in the fencing. One type of fencing was agreed on for all three plots.
Project: Plazowa
Architects: BJK Architekci Sp. z o. o.
Client: Private
Contractor: MAKO Sp. z o.o.
Photographers: Paweł Klein
