Detached Family House, Pécs, Mecsek-Side

Architect: Tamás Getto, Tímea Schunk
Text: Gergő Radev
Photos: Márton Getto, Tímea Schunk

The client contacted the designers with a ready-made written programme of the rooms to be contained in the would-be house and a firm, well-defined comprehensive concept in mind which was eventually realized and implemented by Tímea Schunk and Tamás Getto Tamás. During their cooperation and intense dialogue, however, the scheme had been changed several times. As a result, the house has been crystallized to have a unique face and a character of its own: it had evolved and grown into an adult stage of its life by the time it was born. One can trace a well-proportioned blend of high qualities everywhere, as well as an overall impression of harmony. Simple masses and raw, untreated materials come to create an atmosphere of simplicity, evoking the architecture of cloisters: a barn when viewed from the street and an acropolis when seen from the slope. The building is erected on the outskirts of the city, slightly turning away from the street. The garage, the house and the deck form equally proportionate masses in relation to each other as well as regarding their configuration. From the hall of the four-room family house the bedrooms and the wet areas open on the one side, whilst on the other there is the kitchen doubling as a diner, the auxiliary rooms, the deck and the living room made complete with a balcony. A single-flight stairway invites us downstairs where the spare room and the store room are contained. The room shave an imposing view of the forest of pine-trees surrounding the house. Thanks to the windows spanning up to the ceiling as well as the orientation of the building the sun shines in for a long time even in wintertime despite the fact that the neighbouring roofs cast long shadows that stretch on the hillside. Another elegant solution is the 78 cm width of the walls, as the doors and windows set in the middle of the openings are not stricken by rain, although the house has no eaves in the traditional sense. Simple and transparent architectural solutions have been prioritized all throughout. This development was not primarily shaped by numbers, but by the intuition of the designers and the experience of the building contractor. The outcome of all this is the translation of the aurea mediocritas (the golden mean) principle into practice, upkeeping a delicate balance between high-technology and simplicity, which is embodied in a well-proportioned highly useable family home.

Architecture, interiors: Tamás Getto, Tímea Schunk
Structure: László Nagy
HVAC: József† Vimláti, Szabolcs Vígh
Client: József Szentes, Józsefné Szentes
Main contractor: Sze-Kat Kft. – József Szentes