1/15/22, 3:51 PM Kambra / Lucija Penko + Medprostor d.o.o.

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Kambra / Lucija Penko + Medprostor d.o.o.

Curated by María Francisca González

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HOUSES, RENOVATION • SLOVENIA

Architects:  Lucija Penko, Medprostor d.o.o.

Year:  2018

Photographs:  Janez Marolt

Manufacturers: Jansen, Vibia, BORA, Flos, Nestor Martin

Lead Architects:  Lucija Penko MArch ARB, Rok Žnidaršič u.d.i.a. from Medprostor d.o.o.

Electrical:  Elektro Komunikacije Janez Mežnar s.p.

Structure:  Franc Pezdirc s.p.

Mechanical:  Instalacije Aleš Abram s.p.

Landscaping:  Propepa d.o.o., Matevž Kopitar

Main Contractor:  Štolfa, gradbeno podjetje d.o.o.

Products used in this Project

WINDOWS LIGHTS

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Vibia
Lamps - Mayfair

Jansen
Windows - Janisol Arte 2.0

MORE SPECS

Text description provided by the architects. The project is located in the Karst region of Slovenia,
where the climate is Mediterranean and the landscape rocky and dry, covered only by endless
stretches of vine and pine tree forests.

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The old abandoned barn stands in the centre of a small village, its walls curving along the narrow
road between the cluster of houses. It appears to have grown out of a rock, facing South-West onto
an enclosed garden and over the hills above the city of Trieste.

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The refurbishment of the house was approached with thoughtfulness and care, trying to keep as
many of the original elements as possible; the stone window and door frames, the oak roof
structure, the washed-out facade render and all the ironmongery additions revealing that it was
once a home to a cow called Sivka (Lavender). We gave the place a name as well; Kambra, which
is the local vernacular word for a multi/purpose room in the ground floor of the traditional Karst
house.

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In the garden a new-built single storey building is placed to support Kambra’s contemporary function
of a cosy holiday retreat. Facing the house it defines the boundaries of a protected courtyard, a re-
interpretation of a local typology; the heart of every homestead.

The main materials used throughout the project are elemental and enduring; the concrete base,
framed and complemented by black iron detailing is softened by natural oak surfaces wherever

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tactility is of main importance.

The solidity of the new materials and the treatment of junctions between the old and the new alludes
to the passing of time that the house has withstood, celebrating its marks and scars. The concrete
used on the inside of the old house strengthens the stone. Outside, the new built structure, cast in
exposed concrete, resembles it.

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The house slowly changed and weathered through the course of its past 400 years and its
continued transformation has served as an inspiration for its renovation. The concrete building will
be eventually overgrown with life forms and marked by rainfall. With that it will, like a rock, become
a part of the landscape that it currently confronts with its uniformity and sharp form. The process of
change will continue to be its architect.

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Project gallery

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