The Freshness of Tradition

architect Tomislav Čurković, Zoran Zidarić
project An Adaptation of a Family House, Zagreb, Croatia
written by Toni Bešlić

 

The adaptation of a family house is always a great challenge. But Tomislav Ćurković and Zoran Zidarić offer a very simple solution – pure form, good details and balanced proportions.

 

The old house at Andrijevićeva Ulica 25 is a typical example of the impersonal, ready-to-use buildings of the 1950s and 1960s - stone foundations, a ground floor with plaster façade, eaves parallel to the street and an entrance located on the gable side of the house. The adaptation eliminated the gable roof. The architects reorganised the ground floor by adding a large loggia, which stretches along the whole length of the building facing the courtyard, and a stairway on the building’s south side. They extended the garage, giving it more depth, and added another floor to the house, keeping the existing structural relations. The central corridor, which divides the dwelling into areas looking onto the street and those looking onto the courtyard, has become the basis for the new layout.