Design in the Balkans: new family homes in Bulgaria
Balkan architecture is rooted in its history and geography. While Bulgaria Seemingly unnoticed in the region’s design circles, the country’s architecture reflects a broader shift toward more modern projects. This is particularly true in Bulgarian residential architecture, where a series of new single-family houses have been built over the past decade.
Bulgaria comes from a range of empires and cultures that have shaped its built environment, from the Ottomans to the Romans. At the same time, as it occupies part of the Eastern Balkan Peninsula and borders five countries, its architecture follows the country’s mountain ranges and plains. These buildings are often built in urban centers and towns, thus protecting the wealth of one of the most biodiverse countries in Europe. The following projects explore this architecture and the Balkans through Bulgarian single-family houses.
This house is located on the last plot of a neighborhood on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria. The complexity of the program and the size of the site led to the tree structure of the house. Each of the three floors differs in size, with the first floor directly connected to the street and garden. Together they combine with the open ground floor and small garden to make the most of the house’s location constraints.
The idea for this small vacation home was born from the desire to stay away from the crowds and spend time in a quieter place closer to nature. With a limited budget, the young family opted for a retirement on wheels. Restrictions on the dimensions of a vehicle that can travel freely on the roads determined the size of our small house – 9 square meters.
The house is located on a hill in the highest corner of a village in the middle of a northeastern agricultural area. Bulgaria. The project site stands out both for its panoramic views and its distant visibility. In order to reinforce them, part of the program is located in the apparently bastioned volume and the living area is raised above. This creates 360-degree views into the fully open space above.
Simon Gill Architects has completed the fishing lodge in Batak, Bulgaria, in the summer of 2012. The 290 m2 building is divided into two parts, with one half of the house built into the hillside and the other half rising above the ground in an isolated tower-shaped volume. The secluded house overlooks a large lake with vast forests just behind.
Commissioned by renowned art advocate and successful businessman George Bonin and developed by New York-based Ignatov Architects, the Home Tree concept is an attempt to define contemporary, adaptable rural architecture. Its strategy is based on learning about the existing trees on the site, recognizing their natural optimization for the given location and climate.
This single-family home was designed with a large living and dining area, as well as a home office, bedrooms, and sunroom space. The long horizontal structure was oriented towards the sun and provided a view of the slope of the site. Entering the house diagonally, the height of the spaces changes depending on their degree of privacy.