The Aluminum Cabin
Location: Vestfold, Norway
Building type: Summer Cabin
Client: Withheld at the owner’s request
Size: 90 m2
Schedule: Completed 2013
Photographer: Nils Petter Dale
Primary architects: Einar Jarmund, Håkon Vigsnæs, Alessandra Kosberg, Ane Sønderaal Tolfsen
Situated in a beautiful archipelago, this seaside cabin replaces a former dilapidated and impractical cabin dominating the site. The restrictive planning regulations and zoning of the area has informed the scale and mass of the building, as well as an enhanced site-specific adaption to the landscape.
The cabin consists of three interconnected volumes creating three outdoor spaces. All three outdoor rooms offer sun and shelter options during the day. The cabin is placed between two rocks and the landscape makes the cabin appear low in the terrain.
The plan is programmatically divided in two by the roof ridge. One side is subdivided into bathrooms, bedrooms, and a kitchen – while the other side is one large living room. The division is to be seen in the opposing facades – one is private and enclosed, the other is open and transparent.
The cabin is clad in seawater-resistant aluminum and features folding doors that make two of the facades completely open toward the surroundings. The aluminum façade reacts with the shifting daylight and appears altered in its expression during the day.