Passive house in Kinocentara, Sofia

One of our most special passive house projects will be built in the Kinocentara area in Sofia, Dragalevtsi quarter. The design relies on the complete dominance of natural materials, a hybrid supporting structure of reinforced concrete and timber. The solid facades are suspended, with a skeleton of CNC cut LVL beams with a reduced thermal bridge, and thus the external walls have the thickness of a standard house. This is our most powerfully glazed project to date. It was forced equally by the great surrounding views and the need for even larger windows to increase comfort and energy efficiency.

The building has three floors and no basement. On the first floor there is a spacious living room with a kitchen and dining room in a common volume. In the north-west part there is a room for guests or the elderly. On this floor there is a bathroom with toilet, a sauna and technical rooms. On the second floor there are 3 bedrooms with 2 bathrooms, technical and service rooms. On the panoramic attic floor there is a studio for rest, from which fantastic views can be found in all directions and especially to the green slopes of Vitosha mountain.

Like any passive house, this object has a ventilation system for all rooms with high efficiency heat exchanger. To maintain comfort, there is a heat pump with a buffer and convectors in the rooms. A powerful solar installation with flat collectors heats the pool, and in winter, through a heat exchanger to the buffer, the house. There is a fireplace in the living room with special requirements for a passive house – with the main function of aesthetic enjoyment, unrelated to the space heating. All sunny windows have external sun protection with venetian blinds.

The roof and facade sheet metal cladding with a standing seam view made of titanium zinc sheet. The wooden cladding on the facade and the decking are made of thermo-wood. The strong timber structures of the shed stand out the most in the appearance of the house. They are produced of high strength laminated beams, impregnated in autoclave.

The house has all modern control and automation systems, fire alarm system, security system, video surveillance and others.

Due to the lack of street sewage, a local treatment plant was built in combination with a tank for the treated water.

The construction works are in progress.

Area: 439 м2
Designer: Studio APXE
Design Team: Georgi Nikolov architect
Investor: Private owner