Northern architecture

Collaboration:BIG with Kossmann.dejong, Rambøll, Freddy Madsen andKiBiSi The new Danish Maritime Museum is a subterranean museum built around a dry dock adjacent to Kronborg Castle of Hamlet fame. For a century the site was a shipyard bustling with vessels and machinery, and the dry dock that now forms the centrepiece of the museum’s underground building is a legacy of this yard. Yet until recently, the dock lay in a state of neglect in a decayed post-industrial landscape, a desolate and rather ugly concrete relic of a lost industry. Due to the UNESCO World Heritage status of Kronborg Castle, the museum, formerly located within the castle’s walls, was evicted in order to restore the castle’s original interiors. It was decided that the m... More

The river sauna is placed close to a beautiful river with a panomramic view of the distant mountains. It is built close to the Juvet Landscape Hotel and is used by the hotel guests. The saunas have one glass wall opening up towards the view. The building is dug into the terrain and is covered with grass on all sides except for the glasswalls. More

The bridge is located just north of the town Sand in the municipality of Suldal on the west coast of Norway. It is the result of extensive design process which started in 2008 after a design workshop together with Czech architect Ivan Kroupa where the inhabitants of Sand were given the opportunity to make a referendum over some of our initial ideas. The bridge connects the town to a vast wooden landscape which is used for recreation by the inhabitants of Sand. This new connection makes the areamore accessible for the general public and allows people of all generations to use the area. The idea behind the chosen proposal was to establish a horizontal reference line in the landscape, to emphasize the undulant and organic shapes in the... More

A neglected inner city bungalow is completely transformed into an urban oasis through the discovery of a hidden creek. Fresh Water The Southlands Residence nestles into a mature, heavily vegetated corner site in Vancouver’s historical Dunbar-Southlands neighborhood. A year-round fresh water stream divides the irregularly shaped site and the lush basin resulting from long-standing environmental forces sets the stage for this dramatic residence. New Ground The house is designed around the structural grid established by an earlier residence. While remnants of original footings and columns remain, the Southlands Residence reinterprets the competing notions of privacy and exposure facing the well-travelled location. This is done in part... More

The Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit, has just inaugurated the Cathedral of the Northern Lights situated in the Norwegian town of Alta approximately 500 km north of the Arctic Circle. Even before the inauguration, the 47-metre-high cathedral, designed by schmidt hammer lassen architects in cooperation with Link Arkitektur, was perceived as a symbol and an architectural landmark for the entire area. In 2001, when the architecture competition for the Cathedral of the Northern Lights was arranged, the city council in Alta did not just want a new church: they wanted an architectural landmark that would underline Alta’s role as a public venue from which the natural phenomenon of the northern lights could be observed. “The Cathedral of... More

Winnipeg is a city of 600,000 residents located on the Canadian prairie. It is the coldest city of its size outside of Siberia. Winter can last six months. So learning to celebrate winter - learning to take advantage of the opportunities that winter provides - makes sense. The Red and the Assiniboine Rivers meet in the centre of the city, and in winter, when plowed of snow, skating trails many miles long are created. But with temperatures that drop to minus 30 and 40 for long periods of time, and winds that can make minus 30 feel like minus 50, creating opportunities to find shelter from the wind greatly enhances the ability to use the river skating trails. Therefore, a program has developed to sponsor the design and construction of te... More

A sixteen acre farm located on Salt Spring Island, an island in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, the site of this house is bisected from east to west by a long row of mature Douglas fir trees. There is a gentle slope falling across the site from south to north. The south half of the property is an orchard containing a variety of fruit trees; the north half of the property is a hay field. There was an existing cottage on the site which has been sold and relocated to a neighbouring property. The existing barn, garage and studio buildings remain. The new house extends 276 feet in a straight line along the south side of the fir trees. The orchard has been made more regular with the addition... More

Located on Norway’s west coast, Trollstigen is perched within a dramatic pass between the deep fjords that characterize the region. This panoramic site can only be visited and constructed in summer, due to severe winter weather. Despite—or perhaps because of—the inaccessible nature of the site, the project entails designing an entire visitor environment ranging from a mountain lodge with restaurant and gallery to flood barriers, water cascades, bridges, and paths to outdoor furniture and pavilions and platforms meant for viewing the scenery. All of these elements are moulded into the landscape so that the visitor’s experience of place seems even more intimate. The architectural intervention is respectfully delicate, and was conceived as a t... More

The boathouse is a cultural and historical hallmark of Norways coastal regions, where fishing used to be the primary profession. They have traditionally been used for storing boats and fishing gear, but today many of them are being converted for recreational summer use. This particular boathouse is located on the outermost reaches of the Moere-coast, and it hails from the middle of the eighteenth century. It was in such a bad state that the owner decided to tear it down and build it anew. The simplicity of the old building, its good placement and honest use of materials would become key sources of inspiration for the design of the new building. Great emphasis was placed on the main construction, the gates of the gable wall and the adapt... More

SELJORD WORKSHOP During 25.9.-3.10.2009 the students of NABA, Politecnico di Milano and Fredrikstad Scenography School designed and constructed three structures around the lake Seljord in Telemark county South Norway. The structures had three main reasons to be built, firstly to be used as stopping places for travelers and tourists, secondly to serve as meeting points for the local inhabitants, and thirdly to comment on the local stories of a sea serpent, a continuing myth with frequent observations spanning over a hundred years of time. At the same time, this workshop is also part of larger activity, a project called Seljord and Sågene, coordinated by Springer Kulturstudio, organized to revitalize the local economy and to invite mor... More

The summerhouse is built with the purpose of providing artists with time to work in simple, tranquil and beautiful scenery. The house features one large room of 100 m². From a centrally placed core, including two fireplaces, bathroom and a kitchen recess, four sliding doors divide the house into four smaller units – studio, living room, porch and kitchen. From a corbelled terrace you can view the surrounding fern woods and the sun setting above the slope in the distance. The larch wooden cladding on the exterior of the house is designed to provide the interior space with a variety of light and shadow throughout the day. Furthermore, the west facade is equipped with horizontally hinged shutters that, when open, give shade to the house... More

Nestled into a slope on the southern shore of Lake Simcoe, this one room sleeping cabin is a simple but sophisticated Canadian bunkie, evoking the “primitive hut” of branches constructed in the wilderness. The clients desired a private retreat from the main cottage further up the hill that would also enhance their enjoyment of the surrounding landscape in a location previously used to watch the sunset. The fully insulated glass cabin is encased on three sides by cedar slats. A green roof is planted with sedums and herbs to camouflage views of the cabin from the main cottage. The minimal furnishing includes a bed with built-in drawers, a wall of storage cabinets and a wood-burning stove. All interior surfaces, including floor and ceil... More

Until today Hölick Sea Resort, located in a pine forest on the coast north of the Swedish city Hudiksvall, has been a traditional camping site. We wish to increase the quality of living and add new values to the former camping and have used the metaphor “lodge” to illustrate this new ambition. The proposal is a total concept of living, food, services and experiences – including nature, buildings, footpaths, bridges, lighting and signage – to achieve an over-all experience, while keeping a feeling of privacy. By focusing on an exciting architecture in wood, inspired by the former tents on the camping, the client wishes to reach more affluent customers. The area is planned for 22 houses of two different types; 80 and 90 m2, of which the... More

We have produced Sweden’s first series of passive houses designed as type houses, with the intention to make this sustainable building technique available for all. Villa Nyberg is the first one to get built and the house has been customized for the Nyberg family. The villa is carefully situated in the fringe of a fir forest and the living room and kitchen open up towards the beautiful views of the nearby lake. The plan is designed according to the suns movement over the day and the round shape of the villa eliminates the risk of cold bridges. With great technical skills and courage, we managed to create a building many thought was impossible - a round passive house with a hole in! Villa Nyberg has an energy consumption of 25 kWh / year and... More