By contrasting a tiny and unassuming gable with relatively tall rooms, the house appears small from the outside but spacious from the inside. The guest room is accessed from the outside as a way of further economizing on interior space, contributing at the same time a sense of privacy between the host and their guests.

Birch plywood is economically applied only where the body and walls come into contact, reducing material use and exposing different layers in the construction. Structural elements are left visible and allow one to recognize and follow the becoming of the house, creating an experience of temporal lightness.

The house’s facade sheets generate thin, shadowy lines across the structure, producing a subtle sense of hovering. The airy aesthetic is apparent throughout, from the thinly cut metal pieces making up the bathroom to the delicate wooden frame and its low density wood fiber insulation.

The project examines a lighter way of building, ecologically as well as aesthetically.

Text provided by the architect.

A deep overhang creates a sheltered space allowing circulation beneath the eaves. Thresholds to the exterior vary in scale depending on aspect. Parts of the house are protected from the strong prevailing winds by a sand and soil dune planted with small pines, marram grass, heather and crowberry.

The spatial layout is arranged around three volumes separated by partitions which stabilize the construction and enclose stairs allowing movement to the upper mezzanine level which houses an office and additional sleeping space.

Fixed elements, such as the bathrooms, bedrooms and utility rooms are located within each of the volumes. One of the house’s two living rooms can be used as a conservatory during the summer, an uninsulated ‘external’ space within the plan. The conservatory divides the house into two private parts when guests visit. The plan is flexible allowing different types of accommodation and use according to the season and everyday patterns of life.

The interior is unified by the single symmetrical pitch of the roof. A deep edge and cross bracing beam in laminate veneer lumber defines the perimeter of each room. Structural element, frieze and balustrade it lifts the roof above from the masonry.

Below the line of the beam insulating clay blocks separate the space. The blocks are profiled and pale terracotta in colour, joints are narrow giving the walls a delicate, monolithic quality. Power, conduits and controls are made visible. Lighting is suspended or wall mounted. Large sliding doors in coloured mdf close the bathroom and bedroom from view.

Each architectural element is legible and expressive. Laminate veneer lumber, coarse render, insulating clay blocks, coloured mdf, fibre gypsum board, powder coated steel, soaped spruce plywood and a sand coloured cement screed give the interior a colourful, material quality. Fitted furniture is light and robust. Placed adjacent to the façade, the kitchen consists of two components, a fixed framed element containing the stove and sink painted in iron oxide red with a steel plate work surface. Moveable cabinets in plate steel rest beneath allowing the arrangement to be reconfigured.

Text provided by the architect.