Rehabilitation of an old dwelling for one family, Timisoara

Located in the historical district of Elisabetin, Timisoara, the building, with an elevated ground floor and basement, was built at the beginning of the 20th century in an eclectic manner, typical for the end of the 19th century in Central European cities. The building underwent consolidation, restructuring, and restoration between 2005 and 2009. The strategy applied during the project was determined by both the specific theme of the client and the potential and intrinsic character of the building and the entire parcel. The strategy aimed to create an elegant dwelling directly linked with the private garden and a small apartment in the attic for the young successor. Originally meant to function exclusively on the ground floor with a courtyard mainly used as a residual space, a complex development on four distinct levels was accomplished in the end (the basement containing both served and servant spaces, the level of the systematized parcel including the garage and the garden with turf, the high ground floor with main spaces, and the attic) emphasizing the garden – elevated ground floor arrangement.

As a result, the main entry (doubled by the one from the passageway garage – basement – the rest of the house) is accomplished through the exterior staircase, a "trompe l’oeil" with broad steps made out of exterior exotic wood with a gentle slope and through the big intermediary space representing a "living – dining room in open air," a terrace coated in southwest with a grid wooden structure covered in polycarbonate and a flooring made out of exotic wood that continues from the apartment at the ± 000 level. This interior – exterior space, with its own exterior fireplace – barbecue, is the "heart" of the entire building. From here, you can visually observe and enter the garden bordered by an enclosure of wooden horizontal planks.

Important aspects that were followed include the integration of old furniture, the piano, the stove with ceramic plates, the execution of elegant bathrooms, a friendly kitchen, and also achieving spatial fluidity in the day-to-day area.

During the façade restoration, the ornaments and moldings were preserved. The chosen colors for the moldings made them stand apart. The ceramic ornaments were also cleaned and highlighted. The carpentry of the vertical windows was replaced with a new wooden one with exterior wooden shutters. Velux-type windows were put in place at the roof level of the attic. However, this operation did not change the configuration of the roof.

TEAM

Andreescu and Gaivoronschi
associated architects

Piata Sfantu Gheorghe no 4, ap 10 Timisoara
tel +40 256 306042