Vilnius-based architecture practice After Party has built a small private house made of a sliced volume and inclined green roof in the suburban area in Lithuania.

Named House and the River, the 150-square-metre house Bordering local road on the South, squeezed in between two neighbours, the plot marked a piece of landscape, a fragrant suburban meadow descending to a lush creek on the North.

Simple in form and plan layout, the house acts like as part of the landscape emerged from ground. Perceived as a single mass, the residence is marked by a few windows and a striking terrace placed in different angle.

"The two opposing conditions the site is facing resulted in a volume as if sliced in half filled with a layer of grasses sheltering living space underneath," said the architects. 

"Aiming to compensate the local biodiversity, the North facing sloping roof is blooming with herbs and flowers for surrounding bees and little insects creating a continuous green vista from the banks of the river."

As the architects highlight, together with that, the sliced volume makes sure the river facing backyard on the North gets undisturbed sunshine all day long. The volume is interrupted by the large wooden terrace that creates a feeling of solitude and frames the river as if another room outside the house. 

By creating a spacious terrace, it naturally induces many indoor activities to take place under an open sky bordering a lush vegetable garden to be accessible on bare foot. 

The interior space acts as an ascetic background for living, filled with a mindful selection of most important furnitures and objects, each carrying its own unique story, as the studio summarized. 

The interior features a spacious living area facing the river with large opening enhancing nature as the central figure of its interior. But the living area is designed as flexible as possible, and colored with a selection of beautiful vintage-like furniture pieces. 

The kitchen, hidden under a mezzanine floor, is designed bright and all-white backdrop with small tiles on the back wall. A pinkish kitchen island is placed at the center that compliments the kitchen. 

The North oriented windows provide maximum views with no overheat during hot seasons while on the Southern side the big upper floor opening ensures quality light and warmth throughout the cold months.

There is a small mezzanine floor including a seating area with a workplace, a bedroom and wc. 

"A rather pragmatic elevation towards the road is covered with rough brushed plaster enhancing the inclination of the slope and reacting to a more urban setting of neighbouring houses," added the studio. 

"The House and the River refuses to fence off becoming open to the surrounding context, a continuous part of the nature it is placed within." 

"Freeing itself from worthless things it aims to inspire a lifestyle of cherishing the experience of living instead of possessions," they added.

Site plan

Ground floor plan

Mezzanine floor plan

Section and elevation

Project facts

Project name: House and the River

Architects: After Party

Location: Lithuania

Size: 150m2 

Date: 2020 

All images © Giedrius Mamavičius

All drawings © After Party

> via After Party