A House With a Green Roof Tucks Into the Landscape in Lithuania

Although this home is situated in a suburban neighborhood, the radical bermed design by After Party conjures something much more pastoral. "When we first visited the area, there were no houses around, only a blossoming meadow filled with bees and little insects," says architect Gabrielė Ubarevičiūtė, who designed the 1,600-square-foot residence with firm cofounder Giedrius Mamavicius. Ubarevičiūtė continues, "Knowing that it would turn into a living neighborhood in the future, our main aim was to preserve what was already there and find ways to compensate for our intrusion to the local biodiversity."

The result is House and the River, a project for a young family that embraces its surroundings to knit together architecture and nature. But therein laid the challenge for the firm: The site is situated in a middle-income suburban area, with the south side facing the local road and Soviet communal gardens; to the north, the site descends to a lush creek.