Press Release
Katarzyna Starzyk Receives the Silver A' Design Award for Barn Quartet Single Family House in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Katarzyna Starzyk recognized for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Barn Quartet Single Family House by Katarzyna Starzyk has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About Barn Quartet Single Family House
Barn Quartet is a one level residence composed of four barn like volumes arranged on a spacious plot near Tarnobrzeg. Each pavilion serves a defined role: a parents wing with bedroom and gym, a children and guest wing with garage, a living pavilion and a detached hunting lodge. Large glazing frames views of the surrounding pine landscape, while a north side canopy provides sheltered access. The composition organizes functions through clear zoning and balanced proportions, creating a calm connection between interior spaces and the natural setting.
About Katarzyna Starzyk
Katarzyna Starzyk is a Polish architect with nearly twenty years of professional experience gained in recognised architectural studios, including Fiszer Atelier 41 in Warsaw and Paris. She has been a member of the Mazovian Regional Chamber of Architects since 2009. In 2015, she established her own architectural practice in Warsaw, initially focusing on interior design before gradually expanding into architectural design of single-family houses, multi-family residential developments, and service buildings.
Award Record
Katarzyna Starzyk is a winner of 3 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards span the editions from 2022 - 2023 to 2025 - 2026 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/182146
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182146
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182146
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/340416
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://apakasta.pl/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Barn Quartet Single Family House
- Function
- Single Family House
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Olive Drab, Dark Olive Green, White Smoke, Silver and Light Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Katarzyna Starzyk
- Country
- Poland
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182146
Credits
- Image Credits
- visualizations and renders Dawid Milecki
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The villa is formed by four barn inspired volumes, each dedicated to a specific purpose within a single level layout. The parents pavilion includes a master suite and gym, the second wing serves the child and guests with utility rooms and garage, the central pavilion contains living areas with wide glazing, and a detached hunting lodge supports leisure and quiet work. Together they create privacy, comfort and a coherent architectural composition connected to nature.
- Inspiration
- The villa was inspired by the ambition to create a single level residence composed of four barn style volumes on a generous plot near Tarnobrzeg. The concept sought to balance rural calm with modern comfort while keeping the architecture discreet in scale. The arrangement of the pavilions reflects the need for privacy, functional clarity and strong connections to the pine landscape, creating a home that blends naturally with its surroundings and supports a harmonious daily rhythm.
- Research
- The project is based on applied research into single level residential layouts and multi volume rural typologies. The objective was to identify how four distinct functional units can create comfort and privacy for a family of three. Analysis focused on zoning, view axes and outdoor transitions. The outcome demonstrates that a four pavilion structure improves usability, clarity and long term comfort.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was to design a low profile villa that fits local surroundings while organizing complex functions across four volumes. Ensuring privacy between the parents and child wings required careful positioning. Integrating a hunting lodge as a fourth pavilion without disrupting cohesion demanded precise spatial balance. Technical decisions focused on efficiency and spatial clarity.
- Realization and Technology
- The villa was developed using four coordinated barn style volumes linked by functional connectors. Exterior walls are planned as double layer structures finished with ceramic tiles, HPL panels or wood. The house uses a heat pump and a mechanical ventilation system with a high efficiency heat exchanger. Design work focused on clarity of functions and coherent spatial composition.
- Operation and Interaction
- Daily life flows through a central living pavilion with kitchen, dining and lounge areas opening to the landscape. The layout separates parents and child zones for privacy, while the connector hall organizes circulation. A lookout point from the kitchen enables observation of the arrival route. The north side canopy allows dry access to the house and the hunting lodge supports leisure and quiet work.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project was designed in 2024 for a site near Tarnobrzeg on a plot of more than four thousand square meters. Construction began in 2025 and the villa has already reached the closed shell stage with roof and windows installed. The location and scale of the site influenced the decision to create a single level residence composed of four barn inspired pavilions arranged to frame views and ensure privacy.
- Specifications
- The residence provides a usable area of 422.85 square meters with a building footprint of 571.75 square meters, situated on a plot of 4046 square meters. The layout consists of four barn like volumes: a parents wing with gym, a childrens and guest wing with garage, a central living pavilion and a detached hunting lodge. A north side canopy offers parking for two cars and sheltered access to the home.
- Keywords
- modern barn villa, four barns residence, single level pavilion house, contemporary homestead, luxury family villa, barn style architecture, rural inspired design, landscape integrated house, modern residential design, polish architecture
