Villa TH
Detached family house
Hop, Bergen, Norway
Based on a neighbour agreement the height of the build could not reach higher than the surrounding hedges, to preserve sun conditions for the surrounding properties. Luckily the hedges where higher than perceived on site, and at the same time the site was flat by Norwegian west coast standards, only sloping one meter from side to side. So, after a meticulously land survey we managed to supress the building as close to ground water level as possible, opening for a two-storey building – a necessity since the site were small and the footprint to ground ratio made it unbuildable with just one floor. So, it was a close fit, making the most out of the givens.
“So, it a was close fit, making the most out of the givens.”
The organisation of the house is done in a classical manner, with all common rooms on the ground floor, connecting to the garden and entrance area, whereas all private spaces is lifted to the first floor. This separation is emphasized architecturally by the lightness of the ground level with use of large glass surfaces and jagged walls, contracted form the outline of the more massive and closed first floor box, that cantilevers in tree directions. This is also reflected in the structural concept, where the ground floor support system based on a star shaped and two kinked concrete walls. The first floor is all wooden structure, where the cantilever on all sides is done with only a horizontal glued laminated timber structure of beams.
The first floor is all wooden structure, where the cantilever on all sides is done with only a horizontal glued laminated timber structure of beams.
The ground floor support system based on a star shaped and two kinked concrete walls.
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Grahl-Madsen & Sponberg Architecture
Designed and developed by GMSA 2023