Situated on the outskirts of the city, in a beautiful green environment, close to the Kriva Reka River, the Gemini house is the perfect place for two brothers and their newlywed wives to start their family life together.
Studio Name: ArchX Studio
Design Team: Alen Cvetkovski, Natali Veleska, Andrej Cvetkovski, Sara Veleska
Area: 160m2
Year: 2020
Location: Kriva Palanka, North Macedonia
Photography Credits: ArchX Studio
This was the main inspiration for Gemini – a house with two identical floors, representing different living units with separate entrances. The house is built on a higher level than the access road. This is achieved by means of impressive staircases on both sides, between which the garages are located, giving the building a more imposing and monumental appearance.
The base is an almost perfect 8x8m square. The shape is generated from a cubic core with a juxtaposition of horizontal elements (terraces, roof slab) and vertical elements (external staircase, steel frame beams).
An accent element is provided by the inverted trapezoidal columns which are clad in black. In relation to this, the lower parts of the cantilevered panels and parts of the terrace railings are black, creating a visual contrast with the white horizontal slabs.
The openings face north-west and south-west, at the front and back, with one side half open and the staircase side completely closed. The windows are square or rectangular.
The backyard has a large swimming pool and a summer kitchen with a spacious porch, where existing trees are preserved and incorporated into the building. The rear façade also follows the style of the building with horizontal surfaces and black accents.
The façade is a white, classic Demit façade, with black steel elements and wood paneling in some places. The lighting is designed with built-in lights under the terraces and the roof panel, and LED strips on the stairwell.