Przemek Olczyk, Warsaw-based architect and founder of Mobius Architekci, has published photographs of their completed Circle Wood project in the Kampinos National Park outside the Polish capital. Commissioned by an art lover and collector, the home seeks to capture the aura of an art gallery while responding to its natural surroundings.

Built on a large sandy plot densely covered with pine forest, the 4300-square-foot home adopts an oval form containing the living space, garage, and open spa area. The scheme was constructed from a reinforced concrete structure clad with panels of Okume wood sourced from West Africa. Described as “elegant and knotless” by the team, the timber cladding was chosen to allow the building to be “bathed in nature,” blending into its forest landscape.

Inside, the scheme is anchored by a double-height atrium whose natural materials and extensive glazing “pleasantly and harmoniously seeps nature into the interior of the house,” the team says. Evoking the idea of the house as a tree trunk, a series of “alcoves” in the home define clear living zones while ensuring a sense of privacy.

“I thought of the house as a big piece of a tree trunk,” explained Przemek Olczyk of Przemek Olczyk Mobius Architekci. “Consequently, users can feel as if they are continuously strolling through the trees. It is full of glazing that blurs the boundaries. The plot offers the freedom, or rather intimacy of communing with nature and architecture.”

Elsewhere, the project’s gallery-like atmosphere is further emphasized by a “sculptural ribbon” staircase flowing between the two levels, designed to be an artistic element in itself. The home's remaining rooms are characterized by their palette of natural palettes, informed partly by the ever-changing external sandy landscape of tall grasses and pine trees.

News of the scheme comes months after Foster + Partners completed the Varso Tower in Warsaw, which has become the tallest building in the European Union. Earlier in 2022, architect Shigeru Ban collaborated with students from Poland’s Wroclaw University of Science and Technology to construct shelters for Ukrainian refugees.