Skåtøy, Kragerø – Filter Arkiteketer
Photography: Elisabeth Hudson
Anyone who’s owned a vacation home will attest to the reality that annual maintenance requirements can mean the death of a pleasant holiday. In this home, dry-stacked stone walls, raw concrete, untreated timbers and a green roof all combine to achieve the client’s objective of a very low maintenance summer cottage.
Although located close to a relatively busy location – a ferry pier – the architects have been able to achieve privacy while maximising the lovely views. They’ve also managed to pack a lot of comfort into the four bedroom 100m2 home! Here are the architect’s notes:
“Summer Cottage on Skåtøy of Kragerø archipelago. The basis for the cottage was an existing early 1940’s cottage in poor condition. The new project was based on the old cabin’s footprint.
The builder wanted a summer cottage that opens onto the breathtaking archipelago but that would also provide private outdoor spaces. The cabin is located at a public pier that the owners wanted to shield themselves against.
The site topography is recorded in two parts – a “sleeping cabin” that cuts into an elongated volume containing the living room and kitchen. Decoupling provides a sheltered outdoor area on the upper level that is associated with a sheltered outdoor area on the lower level. The client wanted a maintenance free cottage. This has resulted in a home clad in untreated wood, natural stone and sedum vegetation on roofs.”
Click on any image to start lightbox display. Use your Esc key to close the lightbox. You can also view the images as a slideshow if you prefer 
