House KarlssonHouse KarlssonHouse Karlsson
This single-family house is situated on the northern coast of Lake Mälaren in central Sweden. It is set in a former recreational area where, in recent years, most of the small weekend houses have been either extended or replaced by catalogue housing.
A starting point was the simple construction of rural buildings and the architecture of Swedish barns and warehouses, traces of which can still be seen within the sprawl of type houses in Tidö-Lindö. The clients, a couple in their sixties, wanted a home for themselves that also included space to accommodate visiting children and friends. The brief is defined in two parts: a complete living floor at the entrance level and an upper floor that is only partly finished, representing a future potential extension within the house. Aiming to meet a need for low-cost construction, the plan is strictly based on a cc1200 module. Furthermore, the use of standard building components allowed the costs to be kept to a minimum—thirty to fifty per cent less than average.
In contrast to the deep red exterior, the interior space is very light. It is characterised by three light shafts that rise through the attic to allow sunlight to enter from above. Two are situated at the short walls of the open living room, while the third marks the position of the staircase at the south gable. By combining rooms in a suite with transverse passages, the plan offers several alternative ways to move through the house. Windows are placed to further enhance the character of the interior spaces by alternatingly directing views low towards the garden, far away towards the lake and the horizon, or high up towards the trees and the sky.
The prismatic exterior is clad with oversized wooden panels made from the heartwood of slowly grown pine and treated with red tar; this is a way of reinterpreting the technique of wooden roofing that has been in use for centuries in Scandinavia, particularly in the north and on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.
Freely placed windows in two sizes are punched through the roof and the facades. Fixed brise-soleil shutters complement the varied interior light, as well as the pattern of light and shadow on the exterior. All exterior fittings and details are painted in the same colour as the facade.
