A KONTIO Iso-Kajastus family home in Poznań

A pleasant family home in the city centre

Dentist Adrianna and her husband Dawid chose a spacious brick villa on the outskirts of Poznań to start their life together. The house had an ideal location for walks in the nearby forests, along the Warta river, and for visits to Wielkopolska National Park. Adrianna commuted into central Poznań every day to see her patients. Entrepreneur Dawid travels frequently across Poland and abroad, and had set up an office in one of the house's spacious rooms.

After their sons Eliasz and Gabryjel were born, the couple slowly began thinking about moving somewhere closer to the city centre, and its amenities. After having children, Adrianna built her life around their needs, but still ran her clinic in the city centre and kept a handful of regular patients. Dawid's business was also growing promisingly, and eventually the time came when he needed office space in central Poznań too. Eliasz and Gabryjel started at a kindergarten on the outskirts, but once they'd finished preschool, both boys were accepted at a prestigious primary school in the city centre, and moving the whole family became unavoidable.

The family began planning a move closer to the city centre, to avoid the daily complicated commute. At first Dawid and Adrianna considered an apartment, but eventually ruled it out. Dawid says: "We'd lived in a spacious house for a long time, our sons have grown up used to living in a house, so we decided to buy a smaller plot almost right in the centre of Poznań, where we planned to build a comfortable, beautiful, healthy house that would meet the needs of a family of four."

Adrianna and Dawid spent some time looking around the building market, and in the end chose to build a home from solid wood. Wood is beautiful, warm and cosy, and those were the main reasons for choosing a timber home. Since a plot in the city centre is relatively small, the couple had to plan their house very carefully so every family member would have their own privacy, especially since the family was used to a lot of space in their original house, and neither the children nor the adults wanted to lose that sense of freedom and openness indoors.

While looking for a partner to build their timber house, the couple deliberately focused on Finnish companies, and eventually chose KONTIO. In the couple's view, Finnish companies — and KONTIO especially — have long, time-tested experience building timber homes. Adrianna and Dawid also welcomed the fact that Finland's KONTIO has a business presence on the Polish market.

Working with an architect and experts from KONTIO's Polish office, a charming, comfortable home for a family of four rose up in the centre of Poznań. The ground floor of the timber home holds a large, open space, at the heart of which sits a black-painted steel wood-burning stove. The ground floor also has a kitchen and dining area with a view of the garden. The couple's bedroom connects to the sauna. The sauna has become the most popular spot in the house, where the family relaxes after a hard day. "The sauna has become a place where we all calm down — no electronic devices distract us, we talk, listen to one another, and warm up beautifully after coming in from Poznań's cold streets," Adrianna says, full of praise. Adrianna and Dawid's bedroom opens onto a terrace with a hot tub, where the couple enjoy, in the privacy of their small garden, looking out at the dark sky and the glittering lights of the city. The first floor holds two children's bedrooms with walk-in wardrobes and a bathroom, as well as a room that serves as a playroom and occasionally as a guest room.

Adrianna and Dawid's log home is heated with gas. The whole ground floor has built-in underfloor heating, and the couple also opted for a central ventilation system.

After a year living in their new home, the couple are thoroughly happy with the quality of their house and wouldn't change a thing. The only thing that feels unnecessary to them is the additional insulation that had to be included in the timber structure to meet building regulations — otherwise, Adrianna would have preferred a purely log structure.

Adrianna, Dawid and their sons are full of praise for living in their new home. "We're essentially right in the centre of Poznań, and our cosy, wood-scented house, set in a small green garden, has exceeded our original expectations of living in the heart of our historic city. The log home isn't big, but working with the wonderful experts at KONTIO, we managed to build a family home where every one of us has enough privacy. We all feel comfortable, safe and free at home," Adrianna concludes her story.

A pleasant family home in the city centre. A cosy house that offers privacy for both children and parents.