top of page

SMALL BALLAST DAM 4



The building plot, at Mazāja Balasta dambī 4, has changed borders several times, where two old log buildings are now located on it. The small house (without an address) was added to the plot in 2017. The entire paved street is an old building ensemble: the small fishermen's houses are built in a row along the left side of the street and the ensemble is closed by the Žanis Lipke residential house and the black building of the Memorial.
The residential house was rebuilt in 2005, by its owner Ivars Spura himself, architect Ivars Rudzītis, certificate No. 10-0084. The old log volume is clad with a wooden frame from the outside and a new volume in a wooden frame has been added to its back towards the garden. The new volume is covered with a sloping roof elevation from the ridge of the existing volume, making the silhouette of the house asymmetrical. In this way, a house has appeared in the ensemble of Mazā Balasta dambja Street, which unpleasantly disrupts the harmony of the street's construction. At the other end of the house, the end of the future Drosmes House building is on the border with an asymmetrical firewall. Thinking about the harmony of the street's construction, this firewall against Drosmes House should also be adjusted. Skylight windows have been built into the roof of the house facing the street, it is covered with a tile-shaped tin roof. After insulation, the windows of the house are built into wall niches. All historical windows have been replaced with new plastic double-glazed windows, no historical details have been preserved, such as doors, roof eaves profiles and profiled boards of the facade cladding.
The other log building has remained relatively authentic in its size. This log building has also been insulated and sheathed with boards, new plastic windows have been installed facing the street, and a firewall has been built at the end of the house against the neighbor's land. The other end of the house on the first floor is plastered, but the end of the attic floor's board cladding has not been changed. Behind the house, an entrance hall has been preserved, which has also been insulated. The building has retained its corrugated slate roof and the original wooden structure under it. The impression is that the small building, which was purchased later, has been demolished towards the street.
As a result, two log buildings on the same plot form an interesting ensemble.
In the garden part of the plot there is a shed, which is planned to be demolished.
The entrances to both houses are arranged from the back. Between the two buildings there is a driveway with a concrete paved parking space for a car. The pedestrian entrance gates and the drive-in gates are placed between the two buildings, the territory is surrounded by a vertical board fence from the street, and from the other sides – metal wire mesh fences.
The goal of the reconstruction is to restore the historic log house ensemble of Ķīpsala in Mazā Balasta dambī, which is deformed by an asymmetrical roof construction and dilapidated traditional wooden architectural details. Having analyzed the complex reconstruction project from 2005, where the existing log volume is built into a wooden frame and an extension with an asymmetrical roof is made at the back, we are inclined to demolish the house and not bother with the reconstruction of the existing volume. By demolishing the house, a basement can be built under it, which is necessary for the placement of technical and utility rooms in the limited volume of the soil and the house. The choir of the house needs to be raised by 50cm, because in the current situation, the ceiling height in the asymmetrical construction is 1.8m at the outer wall. In the newly built house, it is planned to use the dismantled built-in log structures for the decoration of the facade of the house. All plastic windows are intended to be replaced with traditional wooden windows with shutters. Cover the roof with galvanized sheet metal, restore the traditional wooden facade details.
Architects: Zaiga Gaile, Rūdolfs Leja
Client: private person
Project duration: from 2022
bottom of page