By: SLETH
Year: 2016—2020
Location: Aarhus area, DK
Size: 68m²
Status: Completed
Collaborators: Tømre-Snedkerfirmaet Aps Keld Ellegaard Sørensen (contractor), Ivar Lykke Christensen A/S (engineer), FLIB BYG Aps (floors).
Photos: Rasmus Hjortshøj COAST
SLETH was hired by a private client who wanted to build a house in a scenic location in a forest near Aarhus that should function as her everyday office get-away. The house lies in a natural protected area. Thus, the new house had to be placed within the frame of the existing plinth and built on nature’s premises, emphasizing and embracing the given reservations of the protected landscape.
The function as a workspace rather than a (holiday) home has resulted in a layout that frees out most of the square meters for a living- and workspace rather than bedrooms. The way nature and house correspond with one another creates a pleasant atmosphere that makes the work situation enjoyable and relaxing. All walls act as bookcases and the doors open to allow a fluent transition between the outside and inside.
The inside/outside relationship is also expressed in the choice of materials. Three main materials: stone, wood, and copper are used – each one with a distinctive connection to the surrounding landscape.
The stone floor lies like a carpet between the inside- and out, simulating in its texture and colors the forest floor running through the house. The solid Douglas wooden planks are used as the predominant material inside the house in the kitchen, ceilings, staircase, windows, walls, and furniture, creating a warm, comfortable, and lined interior. Outside, the dark brown-reddish copper façade blends with the forest and copper beech trees of the site and patinates over time, gradually turning more and more green as the copper oxidizes.
The Author’s House is a blend of wellness and wellbeing close to nature that results in a place for inspiration, reflection, and contemplation. All good basis for work joy.
