Villa Altona by The Common Office

The building is orientated in east – west direction parallel to the height contours. This marks the border between the two different site characters. In the south a more traditional villa garden is shaped in the terraced landscape, whereas in the east, west and north the untouched nature continues right up to the facade. The building is divided into four very narrow units, each 2.85m wide. This makes the building very naturally adopts its footprint to the terrain. Furthermore are the four units offset to each other both horizontally and vertically. The facade seems to fold itself in the landscape, avoiding trees and boulders and provides light from all points of the compass. A large centrally placed and retractable sky light (3.0 x 2.2m) fills the interior with light and contributes to the transparency of the building.

The interior is almost one continuous room. The building units offset relative to each other creates smaller private spaces within the large room. The family members private rooms have very generous proportions and borders directly to the common “negotiable” room. The relation between negotiable, and private rooms are regulated with large sliding wall partitions. The Construction is carried without any blasting on a plinth foundations. In situ cast floor, and roof slabs are supported with slender steel columns and the outer walls are constructed as in situ constructed wall elements. The roof has a very low pitch and is covered with a sedum-herb mixture.

Villa Altona, by Designer, Sollentuna, Sweden, by The Common Office

Monday, October 12th, 2015

Previous Entry Next Entry

Serif TV by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Sushi Yoshii by SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE

Editor's Picks

Bell Side Table
Hand-blown in the traditional manner using a wooden mould, the transparent tinted glass base asserts a sculptural presence in space, contrasting intriguingly with the solid brass frame on top while also forming with it a harmonious unit recalling the elegant curving silhouette of a bell. [more...]

Design Icons

Fjordfiesta Scandia Senior
by Hans Brattrud
A Norwegian furniture design classic from 1957, Scandia Senior is a comfortable high-back easy chair with a leather head cushion, on a satin swivel base. [more...]

Resources

More Books

Case Study Houses
“It’s a huge coffee-table book, which analyses each of the houses in chronological order, with plans, sketches and glorious photographs.” [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

The Eames Lounge Chair
The book examines the evolution of a design icon and places it in its cultural, historical and social context. [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

The U.N. Building
Symbol of world humanitarianism, a beacon of unity after the Second World War. More than 50 years on, the 39-story building is regarded as one of the pinnacles of mid-century modernism. [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

Loblolly House
Including a DVD of the film "A House in the Trees", a real-time documentary of the design, fabrication, and assembly of this amazing house. [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

Desire
The Shape of Things to Come. An up-to-date comprehensive survey on furniture and object design today, showcasing the crème de la crème of designers. [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

Marcel Wanders
Behind the Ceiling is the first monograph on one of the most influential, prolific and celebrated international designers today. [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

How to Wrap Five Eggs
A mid-60s classic of Japanese design. Stunningly laid-out paean to traditional Japanese packaging is rife with sumptuous black and white photos of all manner of boxes, wrappers and containers that appear at once homely and sophisticated, ingeniously utilitarian yet fine and rare. [more...]
Buy it here: Amazon

Follow Daily Icon

Email Address:

Categories

Serif TV by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec

Sushi Yoshii by SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE