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HENRY'S HOUSE







The residential building at Balasta dambī 64a was built in the second half of the 18th century and is an architectural monument of local significance.
The reconstruction concept is based on preserving the building's image as much as possible, both in terms of volume and internal living structure. Over the years, the house had sunk into the ground, the raised street level obscured the view of the river and the Riga skyline. We decided to raise the building and did it with railway jacks. As a result, the house regained its lost grandeur.
The old tiled roof was restored. The roof truss was supplemented with 6 new attic floor roof structures, designed in an analogue to the two existing ones, slightly increasing them.
Secondary window spaces were eliminated in the building and the original ones, which appeared after the cladding was removed, were restored in their logical places. The original wooden cladding, eaves, window and door frame details, shutters were measured and copies were made. The windows and window sills were made new from old wood. The original entrance door on the backyard side, all interior doors and wooden handles were restored. The spiral staircase was moved from a demolished building on Ģertrūdes Street. Old wood was used for the plank floors.
During the design process, we decided on an extension at the blind end of the building facing the Old Town, where, according to various sources, there had already been an extension. The new volume is designed as a wooden veranda with large windows, under it – a basement and a garage dug into the ground. The veranda serves as a living room. Its roof is a habitable terrace with a tiled floor, on which you can hold garden parties and enjoy the view of the river. The roof terrace is accessed by stairs in a wooden tower. The new additions – the veranda and the tower – are today's wooden architecture, a reinterpretation of Latvian and Japanese wooden traditions, a combination of constructive asceticism, and yet a reminiscence of the veranda of the first half of the 20th century with colored glass in the corners.
Residential house reconstruction
Riga, Ķīpsala, Balasta dambis 64a
Architects: Zaiga Gaile
Client: Māris Gailis
General contractor: SIA “Būvnams”
Area of the old house 247.4 m2, total area with extensions 340.7 m2
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