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Project Name: Malangen

Location: Norway

Date Completed: September 2017

Interior Designer: Snorre Stinessen Architecture

Malangen is a residential retreat designed with a focus on creating a close connection between the surrounding landscape and a homely space for family and friends. Located an hour´s drive south of Tromsø in Northern Norway, the site is beautifully positioned on a ridge rising from the fiord below and overlooks a natural opening in the forest.

The conceptual layout provides both privacy and room for several activities at the same time for all the family to enjoy. It also reduces the energy needed for heating the space in the cold climate, as various rooms and activities will require different temperatures.

The volumes are all made in wood with the exterior cladding in cedar panel, which was treated with iron sulphate and kept outside for months before assembly to achieve an even patina. The interior surfaces are mainly in knot free oak to achieve a warmer contrast to the outside of the volumes and the wooden volumes are all slightly elevated in relation to the in-between spaces. The ceilings in these spaces are all made of oak slats, treated with iron sulphate and turning black because of the tannin. The sauna is only separated from the outside by a large frameless glass, underlining the secluded privacy of the clearing in the forest.

A natural clearing and a raised rocky ridge in the forest provided a beautiful location and orientation for the building design to integrate seamlessly with the site, with virtually no impact on the existing landscape or vegetation.

The project relates to the landscape, both as a building but also as interior. Sitting low to the ground in the living room and enjoying the afternoon sun over the fiord to the West or entering the hall with the children peering down from their loft space. You can spend time gazing out from the in-between spaces or relax in the very private sauna. Malangen is full of different spaces and rooms for a wide range of activities and experiences, suited to all the family.