Dezeen Magazine

OFIS Arhitekti clads geometric home in Slovenia with red-brick tiles

Slovenian studio OFIS Arhitekti has completed Frame House, a family home in Ljubljana clad in red-brick tiles that play on the area's pitched-roof buildings.

Frame House is located in the city's suburbs and designed by OFIS Arhitekti with a footprint of 200 square metres so as not to intrude on the site's large rear garden.

Exterior courtyard within Frame house in Slovenia
A large canopy with pitched sides shelters an entrance patio

The home has a geometric form, fronted by a large canopy with pitched sides. This shelters a paved entrance patio intended as a place for the client's children to play.

OFIS Arhitekti placed a hole in the canopy to provide an existing tree with light and space to grow.

Facade view of Frame house in Ljubljana
Perforated metal screens and large windows animate the exterior

"As the client loves gardening the idea was to place the house in a way that keeps the back garden as large as possible," OFIS Arhitekti co-founder Rok Oman told Dezeen.

"Therefore the back of the house is flat and simple, while the entrance yard provides sufficient space for cars and is partly covered with a canopy also creates space for kids to play," he added.

Exterior view of family home by OFIS Arhitekti
The home is clad in red-brick tiles typically used on roofs

Frame House's cut-out on the front elevation contains the entrance and access to a single-storey storage area, both clad in blackened timber.

Inside, OFIS Arhitekti has created a ground-floor living, dining and kitchen space with views of the garden through large sliding glass doors that open onto a stone-paved terrace.

On the home's northwestern side, the kitchen is lined by full-height windows and perforated metal screens to provide greater privacy.

Three bedrooms are located on the first floor, which leads onto a rooftop terrace to the north. This is sheltered by a sloping parapet created by the canopy at the front of the home.

Kitchen and dining interior within family home by OFIS Arhitekti
The ground floor living spaces frame views of the garden

Frame House's exterior is deliberately simple, clad entirely in red-brick tiles typically used on roofs, with areas of perforation made to offer glimpses into and out of the interiors.

"Red brick is traditional material for the pitched 45 degrees-roof residential houses that mostly surrounds the area," said Oman.

"However the main volume of Frame House has a flat roof so in a way the red-brick envelope creates a sort of play with the idea of a traditional red-brick pitched roof," he added.

Living space within Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Concrete and wooden surfaces line the interior

Inside, this reddish-brown exterior is contrasted by exposed concrete walls and ceilings and pale wooden floors, chosen to create "cosy and comfy" spaces that provide a minimal backdrop to the garden.

OFIS Arhiteki is led by Oman and Spela Videcnik. Previous projects by the studio include a glazed star-gazing retreat in Andalusia and a prototype house built from adaptable modules.

The photography is by Tomaz Gregoric.

More images and plans

Site plan of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
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Ground floor plan of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
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First floor plan of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
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Section drawing of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Section
Section drawing of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
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South West elevation of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Elevation
South East elevation of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Elevation
North West elevation of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Elevation
North East elevation of Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Elevation
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti
Frame house by OFIS Arhitekti