Villa Horizon Private Residence by Przemysław Cepielik is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design Competition Category.
BronzeArchitecture· 2026
Villa Horizon Private Residence
Client: Eklekt Atelier
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Architecture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #174927The Design
About Villa Horizon Private Residence
Villa Horizon is a contemporary private residence structured around an indoor swimming pool that defines its architectural and spatial core. Embedded within a grounded stone base, the pool operates as a horizontal axis, visually connecting the entrance driveway with the private garden. Above, an elevated pavilion accommodates the main living areas and opens toward panoramic views of Krakow and distant mountains. The project achieves equilibrium between mass and transparency through a disciplined two level sectional composition, integrating structural precision with spatial continuity.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Villa Horizon Private Residence is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Villa Horizon Private Residence is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Villa Horizon Private Residence splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
Villa Horizon was conceived as a monumental horizontal gesture embedded into the landscape. The main principle behind the design was to create architecture that defines its own presence rather than adapting passively to its surroundings. The project explores the tension between solidity and openness, mass and transparency, discipline and lightness.
The inspiration came from modernist architecture, Mediterranean spatial culture and the timeless clarity of classical composition. At the same time, the project was deeply driven by functionality and spatial experience. Every element of the house was designed to create emotional calmness, panoramic openness and a strong connection with light, water and horizon.
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
The main focus was to create a residence offering spatial freedom, privacy and emotional balance through disciplined geometry and carefully controlled composition. I wanted the architecture to feel strong and self-assured while remaining calm, restrained and highly functional.
An important objective was creating a clear duality between the anchored stone base and the suspended upper pavilion. This relationship between heaviness and lightness defines the identity of the house. The sequence of spaces was carefully composed so that movement through the residence continuously reveals new perspectives, framed views and relationships with the surrounding landscape.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
Villa Horizon is currently under development, and the next stages focus on material precision, structural optimization and preserving the architectural clarity of the original concept during realization.
In the future, I would also like this project to become part of a broader architectural dialogue about contemporary residential architecture rooted in restraint, proportion and emotional atmosphere rather than purely visual spectacle.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Villa Horizon is composed of two clearly defined volumes: a solid stone base and a light upper pavilion. The lower level is set into the terrain and contains the indoor pool positioned along the main axis of the house. The water surface is visible from both the entrance driveway and the private garden, creating a visual connection across the plot. Above, the elevated pavilion opens toward wide panoramic views through generous glazing, combining weight and lightness in a balanced composition.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Total Area: 564 sqm
Location: Krakow Poland
Design Year: 2024
Status: In Development
The house is organized into two functional layers.
Ground Level includes indoor pool, cinema room, guest suite, entrance hall and garage integrated into the terrain.
Upper Level contains living, dining, kitchen and sleeping areas oriented toward panoramic views.
The central water axis remains visible from both driveway and garden fronts. - Tags
- residential architecture, contemporary villa, horizontal architecture, panoramic residence, indoor swimming pool, sectional design strategy, landscape integration, stone and glass architecture, elevated pavilion house
- Production Technology
- The lower level is built in reinforced concrete and finished with natural stone, allowing the house to merge with the terrain while enclosing the pool within a controlled thermal environment. Particular attention was given to moisture management and structural coordination. The upper level uses a steel reinforced frame with large span glazing. The structure was carefully optimized to maintain slender proportions while ensuring stability and durability.
- Design Challenge
- The key challenge was to achieve a strong horizontal presence without visual heaviness. Integrating the indoor pool within the structural base while keeping visual continuity between driveway and garden required careful sectional planning. Long structural spans in the upper pavilion were refined to maintain clarity and efficiency.
- Research
- Type of Research: Architectural spatial investigation.
Objective: To explore horizontal composition through sectional strategy while integrating an indoor pool as a spatial axis.
Methodology: Site analysis, view studies, proportional modeling and structural span optimization.
Result: A two volume system combining grounded mass with elevated transparency.
Impact: Demonstrates how a clear sectional concept can integrate wellness functions without disturbing the landscape. - Inspiration
- The project originated from the decision to position an indoor swimming pool at the core of the house. Due to climatic conditions in Krakow and the family background in pool construction, water became the main architectural generator. The limited plot offered panoramic views, leading to the suspension of the main living level above the pool to maximize exposure toward the city and distant mountains.
- Project Duration
- The project started in 2024 in Krakow Poland. It is currently in development with ongoing architectural and structural coordination.
- Operation Flow
- The house is experienced through vertical movement. Entry takes place at ground level, where the indoor pool forms the central organizing element. Circulation unfolds around the water core, linking entrance and garden. Moving upward, the atmosphere shifts from enclosure to openness, ending in unobstructed views over Krakow and the surrounding landscape.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Przemysław Cepielik, 2024. All rights reserved.
- Team Members
- Designer: Przemysław Cepielik
Designer: Kinga Krakowska
Visualizer: George Ryabinin - Image Credits
- Image #1: Eklekt Atelier, Villa Horizon, 2024.
Image #2: Eklekt Atelier, Villa Horizon, 2024.
Image #3: Eklekt Atelier, Villa Horizon, 2024.
Image #4: Eklekt Atelier, Villa Horizon, 2024.
Image #5: Eklekt Atelier, Villa Horizon, 2024.
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