- Project: MP_II House
- Architect: Kruk Architekci
- Location: Poland, Warsaw
- Year: 2023
- Area: 280 m2
- Photography: Nate Cook
MP_II House by Kruk Architekci is a low-profile dwelling seeking harmony with its wooded surrounds near Warsaw. Conceived as a silent enclave, the house is designed to recede into the trees while offering light, shelter, and precisely framed views.
Clad in charred wood siding, the exterior’s deep tones dissolve in forest shade. A simple L-shaped composition separates daytime social zones from private bedrooms, organizing movement and framing terraces for outdoor living.
Spatial Composition & Light Strategy
The L-shaped footprint establishes a clear order: one wing holds living, dining, and kitchen spaces opening to a terrace; the perpendicular wing contains bedrooms and quiet rooms. A continuous roof skylight runs along the ridge, admitting soft, even daylight deep into the plan. Wide sliding glass doors erase thresholds to the garden, while overhanging eaves supported by timber posts extend shelter outdoors to create seasonal, semi-covered rooms.
Terrace zones act as thresholds—neither inside nor out—inviting coffee at dawn, shaded reading by day, and dinners under the eaves at dusk.
Materiality & Environmental Integration
The dark, tactile façade of charred timber lets the building merge with trunks and leaf-shadow. The roof stays low and low-pitched, minimizing silhouette among the trees. Inside, the palette lightens—pale walls, warm wood, and minimal detailing cultivate a calm, luminous refuge that contrasts with the shadowed exterior.
Windows are placed to frame trunks and clearings rather than views in the abstract—the forest is treated as a series of intimate vignettes, shifting with weather and season.
Atmosphere & Experience
Moving through MP_II House is a study in contrast: filtered exterior light gives way to luminous interiors; retreating, cloistered edges open onto terraces that frame the forest. The skylight anchors the house vertically, drawing the eye upward while daylight animates surfaces across the day.
The interiors avoid excess, favoring quiet detail and clarity of junctions. Subtle grain, muted tones, and clear sightlines allow the surroundings to take the lead.
Daylight, Shelter & Seasonal Use
By day, deep eaves temper glare and heat; by night, warm interior light glows under the roofline without flooding the forest. The house remains attuned to seasons—opened wide in summer, held closer in winter—always maintaining an easy dialogue with the trees.
Details & Edges
Architecture here is measured and quiet: careful soffit lines, slender posts, and clean junctions establish an understated precision. Pathways slide along façades, slipping between trees and glass to choreograph everyday movement at the forest edge.
From the sheltered privacy of the bedroom wing to the outward-facing social wing, the house balances quiet retreat and open engagement—a composed companion to the woodland rather than a focal point within it.
Quiet Architecture, Lasting Presence
MP_II House is less a statement than a quiet presence—a low, dark line among trunks, and a bright sanctuary within. Its restrained form, light strategy, and tactile materials create an everyday refuge that listens to place and seasons.
