Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Villa Old Oaks

This is a project by OFIS arhitekti and it is located at Ljubljana, Slovenia. There are nine images for Villa Old Oaks.

: © Tomaž Gregoric

Project images

Designer's statement

The private client convoked a proper architectural competition for five invited offices, the idea being to choose an architect for his new residence.

The residence is situated in a new neighbourhood of six larger villas. The unique feature of the site is a splendid view of a stand of oak trees that are over a hundred years old. The terrain slopes down towards these trees. To guarantee that most of the major spaces will have access to this view, the house is organised in stepped levels following the terrain. The outline of the house keeps to the shape of the plot of land, minus four metres all around, the minimum distance Slovenian law calls for vis-à-vis one’s neighbours.

The heart of the house is an external covered courtyard. Main spaces such as the entrance lobby and staircase, the children’s playroom, the dining, living, bedroom and work areas overlook this space. These rooms, plus the wellness area with its small pool, also have a view of the park.

The staircase roof is glazed. The courtyard roof is part-glass, part-wood and has views of the sky and the treetops, thus creating a strong link between inside and outside.

Structurally, we wanted to achieve a column-less ground floor. The ceiling of the dining and living area is slung from a Vierendeel beam hidden in the walls of the floors above. The glass construction and frames are also handled with minimum supports.

Other programmes inside the house follow the client’s brief, which was very precise. His is an interesting lifestyle, what with working partly at home and having different hobbies. Security and fire escape issues are important, as is the clear division of private areas of the house and those where guests are allowed to wear shoes or where one receives the postman.

The house has also to be “intelligent”. Various functions such as air conditioning, security and sun-responsive external shade can be controlled by software, and different ambiences can be created using lights and music.

Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Design team: Rok Oman, Špela Videcnik, Neža Oman, Florian Frey, Vanja Fink, Špela Uršic
Design year: 2003
Construction years 2003-2008
Structural engineering: Valide d.o.o.
Mechanical engineering: Oves d.o.o., Vavtar Engineering d.o.o.
Electrical engineering: Winky d.o.o., Energomont d.o.o.
Surface area: 800 m2
Cost: 1M € aprox
Photographs: Tomaž Gregoric