INFLUENCE OF ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS ON BUILDING HEAT PROTECTION WITH EXAMPLE OF HISTORICAL RURAL HOUSES IN NORTHERN CASSUBIA

This paper is dedicated to the shaping of traditional historical rural houses in the context of building heat protection. Special attention was paid to certain architectural elements of the building, such as its shape, layout of the rooms and functional connections between them, application of material and constructive solutions, and the location of the house on the plot, including the plan of its surroundings. The research concerning the existing historical buildings was carried out in randomly selected villages in coastal, northern Cassubia. This area is characterized by certain definite common features. The basic selective criteria of the researched area were its specific climate conditions, uniquely affecting the shaping of functional and spatial elements of the traditional rural houses. The recapitulating table presents the characteristic architectural elements affecting the building heat protection in the rural houses from the 19th century. It has been stated that folk architecture, as a result of the work of numerous generations, and thus characterized by skilled adaptation to the natural environment and climate conditions, should be currently the pattern and inspiration for quests of lowenergyconsuming solutions during the design of rural dwelling houses.