The small house is situated by a lake in the Stockholm archipelago, on a site that in the early 1900s wasinhabited by a gardener. Plants and pavedwallsthatwerethenorganised still remainto a largeextenttoday. For the last 25 yearsanother garden interestedfamilyhaveused the old existing house as a summer home. The family, consistingofmother and twodaughters, has grown in recent yearswhen the twodaughtershaveformedfamilies on theirown. That in turn has mademore space necessary. Onesister has renovated an existingguest house, while the othersisterdecidedtobuild a new small house, Summerhouse T, for herfamilyconsistingoftwoadults and twochildren. The familyformulated a program thatincluded a kitchen, bathroom, dining area, livingroom, four beds and room for storage. While municipal constraintsdid not allow a buildingthatexceeded 40 m2.
The architectscreated a largeopensquareroomwith a standalonevolumecontaining the beds, kitchen and storage. Along the buildingssouthernside is a dining area and a living area. Roof, floor and wallshave a dark colourtoenhance the building'sintimatecharacter and direct the eyetowards the surroundingview. The house’sonly (trap) door leadsto the bathroom, a separatevolumewhich design wasadaptedto fit into an existing gap in the nearby rock.
The openorganizationwithceilinghighwindowscreate a surprisinglylargenumberof different spatial experiences. Freedomofmovementalong the entirefacadegives a feeling that the house is larger and morespaciousthan it in reality is. The parents' sleeping area has a viewtowards the countryside and the lake while the children’smoreenclosedsleepingalcovedirects the viewtowards the grandmother´s house. The storage passage at the back of the house opensupto the greeneryoutside at one end while the parallelkitchen has contrastingviews in oppositedirections. The livingroomwithdining area and lounge, in turn, have a 180 degreeviewtowards the surrounding. Twoof the wallsareslidingwindowsthat on hot summer dayseasilyopens and allow for a pleasantbreezethrough the house and at the same timeextend the living area to the exterior, where the roofoverhangprovidesprotectionagainst the sun. On rainydays, waterrunsalong the eavesalmost as physically present curtain and the house suddenlyclosesinward.
