- Project: Skubianka House
- Architect: SZCZ Jakub Szczesny
- Location: Poland, Skubianka
- Year: 2025
- Area: 162 m2
- Photography: Nate Cook
A Hidden Gem in the Forest
Tucked away in a mixed forest near a river outside of Warsaw, Skubianka House emerged from the shell of a 1970s/80s modernist structure originally built under duress and shortage of materials. The original building — created between 1976 and 1981 — was constructed using improvised materials such as tram rails for ceilings. When the current owners stumbled across it (while walking their dog!) and fell for its odd “blocky” shape, they commissioned SZCZ Jakub Szczesny to transform the dwelling while preserving its unusual geometry.
Preserving Form, Innovating Inside
Szczesny’s strategy was clear: keep the stepped, pyramid-like massing of the original, accept the low ceilings (212 cm on ground floor) and lean into the intimate scale, but open up the house to nature through glazing, terraces, and structural interventions. Large picture windows, floor-skylights and a green roof above the garage lift the home visually and experientially into its landscape. The clients consciously opted for minimal railings on the upper level terrace in favour of an unmediated connection with the forest.
Materials & Atmosphere
The outer shell remains subdued, designed to recede into the woodland backdrop; internally, warmth and material honesty take over. Steel framing with red accents, wide panoramic windows, and custom furniture built by the owner create a handcrafted feel rarely seen in a renovation of this scope. The living room floor includes a glazed section that opens a vertical visual link between levels — a poetic move that enhances spatial depth as well as natural light.
Spatial Organisation & Program
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Ground floor (212 cm ceiling height): guest bedrooms for the adult daughters, a study, bathroom/boiler space.
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First floor: kitchen/dining and living areas, opening onto a new terrace replacing the original one.
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Top floor (master level, 250 cm height): master bedroom with forest and river views, small bathroom, two terraces. Garage footprint shifted and topped with a green roof accessible from the higher part of the sloping plot.
Landscape & Context
The house is set on a gently sloping plot adjacent to a river. The original scheme ignored the steep terrain, but the renovation embraces it — the house ascends, terraces cascade, and a solid silhouette becomes softly camouflaged by trees. The decision to cover the garage with a green roof signals a respect for the land, not just a building on it.
Why It Matters
Skubianka House is not merely a retrofit — it’s a transformation of legacy architecture into contemporary living that embraces constraint (low ceilings, difficult original form) as design opportunity. It stands as evidence that what others discard can become what makes a project singular. The blend of rugged history, poetic materiality and thoughtful landscape integration elevates it to a narrative worth sharing.
In the world of minimalist retreats cloaked in green and glass, Skubianka House distinguishes itself by anchoring its rare narrative — a house born of crisis, rediscovered by chance, re-envisioned with intention. For designers, the project offers lessons in adaptation, respect for place, and how unconventional typologies can yield unexpectedly rich architectural poetry.
