Villa O / YCL Studio

Architects: YCL studio
Area: 237 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Leonas Garbačauskas, Norbert Tukaj
Manufacturers: Brolis Timber, UAB, Doleta, UAB
Lead Architects: Tomas Umbrasas, Aidas Barzda, Tautvydas Vileikis
Structural Engineering: Sostinės konstruktoriai, UAB
Construction Contractor: Lygmuo, UAB
City: Trakai
Country: Lithuania

Villa O, a residential house designed by YCL Studio on a lakeside site, introduces a circular form that integrates architecture with its natural surroundings through sunken courtyards and directional openness. A cross-shaped core organizes the plan into zones for living, rest, and wellness, while each quadrant opens toward distinct landscape views. The 237 m² structure uses thermowood and concrete to define a restrained material palette. Its layout emphasizes spatial clarity, natural light access, and formal simplicity in response to the undefined character of the surrounding environment.

Villa O sits within a natural landscape on a large lakeside site, placed at the highest point of the terrain to maximize a wide, panoramic view. The house covers 237 m² and opens to the four cardinal directions. Rejecting standard residential forms, the project adopts a circular layout that takes on a sculptural presence, serving as an organic response to an undefined context. Four sunken and semi-enclosed courtyards are embedded in the structure, facilitating a seamless exchange between inside and outside. These spatial voids are essential to the concept, maintaining the clarity of the circle while framing views and drawing natural elements into the house.

The interior is organized around a central cross-shaped space that divides the circular plan into four functional sectors. Two of these sectors are dedicated to bedrooms, one is designed for guests, and one forms a spa area. The middle zone unites the entryway, kitchen, dining, and living spaces into a single open core, emphasizing spatial continuity and transparency. Each arm of the interior layout opens toward a different view—approach path, forest, open field, and lake—orienting the experience of the home through multiple landscape perspectives.

A slightly tilted concrete wall introduces architectural tension and contributes to a greater sense of volume across the rooms. This structural decision supports a sculptural reading of the space and helps define the building’s distinct exterior. The external material palette consists of thermowood and concrete, both selected to create contrast with the natural setting while preserving the simplicity of the house’s form.

Oriented to the four cardinal directions, the residence integrates daylight and landscape into each interior zone. Private spaces are placed along the outer edge of the plan, while the open central area remains transparent and continuous, expressing what the architects described as “an architectural ‘plus’ in every sense.”