House on the Edge of the Plain

Skupaj arhitekti reworks the local ‘low house’ tradition with exposed concrete (cast with Mura river gravel), a load-free glass corner, and a panorama window that disappears into the wall.

Murska Sobota sits in Slovenia’s far northeast, where the land flattens into fields and gardens before the borders with Austria and Hungary. On the edge of that plain, Skupaj arhitekti has made a modest house that stays low to the ground and opens itself to whatever the season is doing: a broad concrete roof slab, deep overhangs, and glazing that keeps pulling your attention back outside. The planning rules were strict about siting, height, and volume, so the project’s personality comes through in how it handles daily life—less “suburban object on a plot,” more lived-in pavilion with a yard that acts like an extra room.

The plan is carried by three reinforced-concrete cores—bathroom, utility spaces, and kitchen—thick blocks that do the heavy lifting so the rest of the interior can stay open. Living and dining face the south‑west garden and terrace; sleeping and working turn toward a more private north‑east garden, with a long, double-sided storage wall doing the work of separating and connecting without chopping the space up. A small structural fold at the north‑west corner clears a fully glazed corner with no post, letting the view turn cleanly around the edge. On the south‑west façade, a large timber sliding panorama window disappears into a recessed steel frame, and the boundary between inside and outside can drop away completely on warmer days.

The concrete isn’t treated like a showroom finish. It’s cast with local Mura river gravel, and it keeps the traces of reused formwork—seams, slight irregularities, a surface that looks like it has already been handled. Inside, the material choices stay close to that mood: polished concrete floors, built-in furniture in veneered chipboard, reused chairs, and simple off-the-shelf lighting. A compact cast-iron stove anchors the living space in winter, when openness needs a center. House on the Edge of the Plain is by Skupaj arhitekti; photographs are by Ana Skobe.