Perched on a sloping site in Poland's Beskid Mountains, Yaw House takes its name from the aeronautical term "yaw"—a slight rotation on its vertical axis. Rather than fighting the terrain, the architects at KWK Promes (led by Robert Konieczny) allowed the topography to shape the building. The ground floor (582 m²) embeds into the hill, with the north side buried for privacy and protection, while the south side opens completely to capture sunlight and panoramic mountain views. The smaller first floor (207 m²) pivots slightly, aligning every window to frame specific ridgelines and block neighboring houses. A 141.5 m² pool sits flush with the interior floor, using a disappearing glass wall to merge indoor and outdoor space seamlessly. Finished in fair-faced concrete with board-formed texture and polished screed floors, the house avoids ornament entirely. The takeaway is clear: on a difficult site, strong design comes not from adding decoration, but from aligning the sun, the slope, and the line of sight.
Architects: KWK Promes, Robert Konieczny Year: 2025 Photographs: Jakub Certowicz Site Area: 4870 m2 Gross Covered Area: 1354 m2 Ground Floor: 581,7 m2 First Floor: 206,7 m2 Pool: 141,5 m2 Volume: 3095 m3 Location: Poland
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Welcome to this house tour in the Beskid Mountains.
The first thing you'll notice is that the building doesn't fight the slope, it yaws
into it.
The terrain dictates the form, the house rotates slightly on its axis, turning living spaces
toward the southern sun while anchoring into the hillside.
With a volume of 3,095 cubic meters spread across 1,354 square meters of covered area,
it feels surprisingly open because it embeds into the ground rather than sitting on top
of it.
Now look at the ground floor, nearly 582 square meters.
Instead of a flat lawn, the topography becomes part of the architecture.
Parts of the roof extend into the grass and the driveway disappears under a cantilevered
corner.
Notice how no single elevation looks the same.
The north side is buried and protective, while the south side opens completely.
That contrast, privacy on one side, panorama on the other, is the core idea here.
Moving to the first floor, just under 207 square meters, you'll see why it's called
Yaw House.
Like an aircraft adjusting its heading, the upper volume pivots slightly.
That small rotation aligns every window with a specific mountain view, blocking neighboring
houses while framing only the Beskid Ridgeline.
The lesson for your own design on a sloping site, don't terrace everything flat.
Let floor plates shift and turn to capture what matters.
Now the pool, 141.5 square meters of water that visually merges with the horizon.
The key move, the pool sits at the same level as the ground floor, and the glass wall between
living room and terrace disappears completely into a pocket.
The interior floor becomes a continuation of the pool deck, with no raised edge or visual
interruption.
That kind of flush, seamless threshold requires precise detailing, but the effect, letting
the landscape step inside, is worth studying.
Finally, notice what the house doesn't have.
No decorative cladding, no complex roof lines.
The exterior is fair-faced concrete with a board-formed texture.
Inside, the same concrete appears on walls and ceilings, with polished screed floors.
Warmth comes from a few wooden panels, and shifting sunlight, through deep window, reveals.
So for your own home, ask not what to add, but what to align, the sun, the slope, and
the line of sight.
That's the quiet lesson of Yaw House.
