Restoration and extension of a house in Tugomir Voievod Street, Bucharest The opportunity to once again approach the subject of interventions on existing houses occurred in 2020, when we were contacted with the intention to be entrusted with the restoration, reconfiguration and extension of a typical Bucharest house, built on one level in the early ’30s and having a very modest surface of only 49 square meters.
Project Name: Restoration and extension of a house in Tugomir
Studio Name: Ene+Ene Arhitectura
Location: Tugomir Voievod Street, no. 60, Bucharest, Romania
Photography: Iulius Cristea
Situated on Tugomir Voievod Street, in an old neighbourhood near Obor Market, characterized by repetitive subdivision with small plots, the house was in a state of very advanced structural degradation, but preserved most of the original exterior elements of plaster and wood. The proportions, the delicate detailing, the human scale, made us immediately appreciate the house and want to contribute to its revitalization.
The functional needs of the new owner demanded a reconfiguration and expansion of the living area, capitalizing on the spatial potential of the old attic, and the introduction of a workshop, which was located in the new basement.
The initial configuration, characteristic of the modest Bucharest houses built in the first part of the last century, inspired by traditional Romanian residential architecture, with only three spaces distributed in a linear fashion on the ground floor, has been preserved and amplified in the new proposed spatial formula.
One of the rooms, the one at the back of the plot, was demolished and replaced by a slightly larger, double-height space, under which, on the same perimeter, a technical basement was built. In the same spirit, the attic was reimagined in the form of a bedroom open to the main space below.
This type of project has forced us to adopt a more fluid approach to the design process, in which the element of surprise and constant adaptation to ever-changing conditions have played an important role. However, respecting the spirit of the house and carefully calibrating any new interventions to the existing situation were our main concerns.
The overall experience of guiding the careful and faithful restoration of the original architectural details, from the special joinery, the elaborate woodwork of the eaves, to the volumetric elements of the masonry of the facades, has proved to be very rewarding. Direct contact with historic architecture forced a superior understanding of building processes and techniques, refined our technical understanding and suggested ideas for future architectural experiments.
