Hasta La Ideas

Norwegian studio Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter has completed a home named Årestua in a remote area of Telemark, referencing traditional log cabins to create a feeling of “natural minimalism”.

Årestua stands on a small, sloped forest clearing and takes its name from the Norwegian word for a log cabin that would historically be organised around an open fire.

Drawing on these cabins, Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter split the home into five volumes, giving rise to four “outhouses” organised around a skylit central living area with a fireplace.

Between the volumes, the studio has placed small outdoor spaces with benches to provide views of the surrounding landscape.

“The way the volumes of the cabin are arranged provides different sheltered spaces on all sides, each with its own qualities,” studio co-founder Astrid Rohde Wang told Dezeen.

“We wanted the central space to have a sort of grandeur with the high ceiling height of about four metres and a roof light,” she continued. “It is an open, sacred room where the extended family can meet and interact for generations to come.”

Årestua’s organisation provides separation between this central living area and the more private bedroom and study spaces, which step down in level and are shielded by slatted wooden screens.

In the tallest volume is a small lookout-style mezzanine with a large window, accessed by a ladder.

“The organisation reduces the need for designated circulation space, as all rooms are connected to the central room – the ‘bonfire’ of the home,” explained Wang.

The home’s walls are made using large sections of sawn logs, positioned on a concrete base that is left exposed throughout to offer the look of what the studio calls “natural minimalism”.

Large wooden cabinets, some of which also serve as room dividers, help to compartmentalise the home, while different-sized windows frame views of the landscape, including an area of corner glazing.

“Although minimalism maybe isn’t what strikes you in the photos of the spaces, it is there in the simplicity of the log construction with an ancient history, in the natural surfaces and the windows just being left as cut logs,” Wang told Dezeen.

Based in Oslo, Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter was founded by Wang with Olav Lunde Arneberg and Ole Larsen. Its previous projects include another cabin in Telemark topped by a sloping roof that can double as a ski ramp when covered in snow.

Another recent home with a blocky form similar to Årestua is Hallen, a white-rendered residence in southern Sweden completed by Åsa Hjort Architects.

The photography is by Ivar Kvaal.

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