Finding a house on the shores of a lake yet close to a town is even a challenge in Sweden, which is famous for its many lakes. But a couple of young architects were in luck.

Not far from Gothenburg, Saga Karlsson and Edouard Boisse found exactly what they were looking for in a plot of land covering 9000 square metres, right in the middle of a conservation area. The pair had a precise vision of what they wanted their family life to be like in the middle of the wilderness. The idea was for their new home to blend into and thus become a part of the surroundings, which it succeeds in doing. “It's a fantastic, unique and peaceful place,” explains client and architect Edouard Boisse. And occasionally a bit creepy too, he admits. Especially when wild storms are raging through the branches of the surrounding trees, thick fog rises over the lake or at night, in complete darkness, when the forest animals are just two metres away from the house.

The home belonging to the family of four comprises just 162 square metres of living space, yet looks so much bigger. This is primarily due to the fact that the rooms merge seamlessly into each other without losing valuable space to hallways. The atrium, which is integrated in the cube-shaped home, is a masterstroke of design. It opens up the house to the sky and floods the living areas and bedrooms with as much light as possible, whatever the time of day. It also has an aesthetic purpose: depending on the position of the sun, a lively interplay of light and shadow is created. What's more, the entire landscape is reflected in the large windows and sliding doors, making the forest and lake seem almost within reach.

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“Transporting the windows and doors was a challenge – mainly due to the size of the windows and the remote location of the house. We had many discussions in advance and thanks to some excellent and detailed planning, the process actually went very smoothly,” comments Fabricator Thomas Harbom from Alufront. Using a crane, it was possible to transport the large glass units to the house, where the Schüco products from Alufront were installed. Among the products installed was the Cradle to Cradle certified AWS 70 BS.HI window. This aluminium block window system meets the highest requirements in terms of energy efficiency, together with the greatest possible degree of transparency. The dark outer frames of the windows blend in perfectly with the timber-clad outer walls of the house, making the transition virtually invisible from a distance. “The cooperation between everyone involved was amazing and Villa J became a real project of the heart for me,” summarises Thomas Harbom.

Source: Profile magazine, issue 27

Download the profile 27 here (pdf, 8.6 MB)