New residence on the outskirts of Vilnius where forests and history coexist

Polish architecture office KWK Promes has completed ‘Trim House’, a single-family home with a unique triangular floor plan in the outskirts of Vilnius, Lithuania. The project is located in a residential area with dense forests and traces of wooden houses from the interwar period.

This project, which began through a closed design competition in 2016, was built on a site where simple wooden buildings once stood. From the beginning, the architects made the balance between the building's presence and the surrounding landscape a key challenge. The surrounding vegetation and the recreational nature of the residential area became important criteria in determining the massing and placement of the building.

Creative turning point created by regulatory changes

As local building regulations changed during the design process, KWK Promes faced new challenges. The permitted building area was reduced by half, and the location of the access road was changed to now cross the garden. These constraints required a complete revision of the design.

The architects chose to adapt rather than move the site. “We persuaded the client to stay on the original site and reduce the size of the house,” explains the design team. “Restrictions actually became an opportunity to refine the concept.” The revised floor plan was compressed into a triangular geometry in direct response to the reduced building area and changed entry circulation.

The interior and exterior connected by the courtyard

Trim House organizes its space around a central patio that brings natural light deep into the interior. This open space extends the garden into the house along with the living room, creating a continuous spatial flow that gradually transitions between indoors and outdoors.

By raising part of the building one floor, the architects created a layered relationship with the landscape. The patio becomes a link between the volumes, regulating light and movement while providing framed views of the surrounding trees. “The patio has become an extension of the garden along with the living space,” the architects emphasize.

Privacy and view from upper floors

The upper floor contains private spaces such as bedrooms. The bedrooms open onto terraces overlooking the site, allowing residents to commune with the forest environment while maintaining a sense of separation from the entry flow. These elevated areas enjoy more natural light and wide views across the site.

In this configuration, the trim house achieves a balance between compactness and spatial spaciousness. The reduced building area allows for larger gardens and improved daylighting, which are particularly important factors in Vilnius' climate and forest environment. “The enlarged garden area and better solar conditions became the key arguments for downsizing the house,” add the architects. The project maintains the initial spatial idea even as its scale changes, demonstrating how constraints can precisely drive form.