There is a view on passive houses that high energy efficiency requirements have repercussions on architecture. That a passive house should be as compact as possible, which restricts the architect's imagination, forcing him to give up aesthetics in favour of energy efficiency. The house in Ceahlău, Neamt, which we present here, contradicts this theory. The atypical, multi-water roof, the wide windows and open spaces, the living room high up to the roof are not specific elements of a passive house, but with a well thought out and well thought out integrated plan, they will not prevent the parameters and certification of the house from being achieved.
The architecture of the house is not the only attraction of this project. The place was conceived from the start as a little piece of heaven. A swimming pool will be built next to the house, a playground will be constructed with a tree house and a zip line will descend from the top of the hill to the playground. Trees, fruit trees, shrubs, flowers and ivy will be planted around the boundary and inside the space. A greenhouse will be installed, half in the ground to benefit from the warmth of the soil, the upper part being enclosed with glass to capture the sun's heat. Next to the greenhouse will be a garden area with raised bedswhere plants will be grown in wooden boxes raised from the ground. Hives will be placed at the top of the hill and photovoltaic panels will be placed in the sunniest spot to ensure the property's energy independence.
A project of the heart, thought out at length
The plan of the house and the site has been carefully thought out and prepared by the owners. A young family with two active and adventurous boys, they wanted a comfortable space for themselves and their children, but also a place where children could play freely. One of the conditions for their well-being was energy independence. So they came up with the idea of a passive house and, after careful research into existing options, decided to build a timber-frame house, attracted by the warmth of wood and the speed of construction.
After all the details were settled, both for the house and the land, they contacted the specialists. The architectural design of the house was made by Raluca Munteanu (Archimedes Studio), architect of passive houses. Raluca understood the particularities of the house and chose the right solutions to combine aesthetics with energy efficiency. Responsible for the technical design was Cătălin Caraza, from Creative Engineering, who did the structural design and energy configuration of the house. For the construction, they chose Litarhand APPA Atelier de Peisaj for the garden design.
The owners have thought through and planned every detail of the work they have to do and have chosen the suppliers who can deliver what they want. Their wish is that both the house and the garden landscaping will be ready by the end of this year, even though work only started in April. They don't make it an ultimate goal, but the important thing is that everything is done well and turns out the way they wanted.
A one-level house with a playground in the attic
The house is approximately 150 m² and is spread over two levels, ground floor and attic. Most of the rooms of the house are on the ground floor, with the attic covering only part of it. On the ground floor will be the living room, kitchen, master bedroom, children's bedroom and two bathrooms. The living area has been placed in the brightest and highest part of the ground floor. There is no ceiling in this area, the rafters seem to be left exposed. In fact, they are false rafters, mounted on a false roof made under the real one, very well insulated. This is the solution found to meet the aesthetic requirements of the beneficiary without compromising the performance of the passive house.
The open space on the ground floor consists of the living room and kitchen, and above the ceiling covering the kitchen area, in the attic will be the children's play area, a space opening onto the living room, but well protected with parapet and safety netting. Also in the loft is the guest room. Here, thanks to the special architecture of the roof, the walls have a special honeycomb appearance. Both spaces are lit by attic windows, the one in the playroom being very generous.
On the ground floor, on the kitchen wall opposite the window, is the staircase to the attic. It is a narrow staircase and therefore has a special design that makes it easier to climb. The entrance to the bathrooms is very discreet, almost invisible thanks to a special locking system. The door blends in with the wall, making it difficult to see. A small sauna will be built in one of the bathrooms.
In order to have the warmest possible spaces, wood will be used for the floors, while cold materials such as ceramics are rarely used. In the bathroom, too, ceramic tiles will be avoided and the walls will be finished with Tadelakt plaster, a warm silky-looking material.
Passive house with special architecture
The house was erected by the Litarh team in a slightly longer time than usual. The special roof architecture took time to execute perfectly. One of the requirements of the passive house is elimination of uncontrolled air exchange with the outside. These most commonly occur at joints between walls or their junctions with floors and roofs. The more complicated the design, the greater the risk of air leaks at joints. This is why passive houses are usually made very compact, with as little architectural fuss as possible.
The Litarh team can erect a 100 m² house in less than a week. At Ceahlău, the particular shape of the roof, with many waters that had to be joined correctly and precisely so that there was no air leakage, slowed down the pace of work. However, within a month and a half the house and garage were erected.
In order to meet the requirements for certification, the house was very well insulated with basaltic wool, vapour barrier film was installed, windows were tightly fitted. The windows of the Ceahlău house are made of laminated wood, made by DanProd SRL from Târgu Ocna, in compliance with the standards for passive house windows. The tightness of the house will be determined at the end by blower-door test.
Landscaping project reveals a garden, many trees, swimming pool, greenhouse, beehives and solar panels
In addition to the house design, the landscape plan is equally complex. It is the garden that will ultimately make the whole place magical. On the land where the house is being built, there will also be a swimming pool, a garage, a children's playhouse and the end point of the zip line coming down the hill. The hill behind the house will be terraced. At the boundary crossing to the next level, reinforcing the back of the land, a summer kitchen will be built sitting over a cellar. A heated water tank will also be built here.
On the next level the greenhouse will be built and raised beds will be laid out in which they will grow vegetables. In order not to depend on soil that is not very suitable for growing them, they will be planted in special wooden crates, raised from the ground, in which compost will be put. This mini-garden will be in front of the greenhouse and a few beehives will be placed somewhere in the back.
On the highest level will stretch "firm" of photovoltaic panels. The sunny location is ideal for such a use, as the panels will ensure the energy independence of the whole space. There will be lots of fruit trees, shrubs, flowers, everything will be green and alive.
The house at Ceahlău is still under construction and the garden is being landscaped. We're planning to go to the end to see what it will all look like. We are not nervous about the outcome because everything is very well planned and organized, they are working with reliable companies and people, it can't be wrong. We just want to show you the final result of an integrated project, a project that transforms a hillside into a fairytale land.
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