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| Through the large sliding glass door the sunlight fills the space of the living area. In the kitchen and sleeping loft the windows are smaller. Pine, which is known for its soundness and rigidity, became the main material of the exterior. One of the major advantages of this kind of wood clad, it needs a little upkeep if properly processed. |
Exceptionally cozy and compact prefab cabin in Norway is amazing in its new view on luxury.
Recently large vacation houses have become popular and usual in this Nothern European country, while the previous generations were opted to build the small and rather simple homes. It seems like people follow the slogan “Bigger and better”. But is it the truth? Marianne Borge, Oslo-based architect, was immediately inspired by the offered work to create the project of small house in 2004. The architect’s client wanted a cabin more than just a second house.
The size of the property and the budget were limited. And the requirements of the client were similar to the description of the large vacation home. He wanted an open fireplace in the living room, kitchen, separate bedroom, shower and toilet. That was a difficult task for Marianne and her team to fit into a small house, about 35 square meters, all those requests. So, they led to unusual and unconventional decisions. For example, the shower area is placed closely to nature, because the shower is outside of the cabin. Borge is amazed at the result of their work, especially at the cabin’s connection with surrounding.
A small cabin was placed without harm to the nature and just fitted into it, while larger structures could dominate the landscape. Such cabin is also can be placed in the midst of the outdoors as a sculptural element, which was made by people. This was a starting point for Borge’s future work with small-scale building. Since then, 10 years ago, Marianne became a creator of a capsule collection, which changes the belief about the importance of size. There is the option to bulid the cabin themselves just using the architectural drawings that is offered by Borge. But the clients soon will be able to buy the cabin as a pre-fabricated building, which was manufactured from Norwagian locally sourced materials.
Because of cabin’s size, there are six sleeping places in the main cabin, and wooden structure, and area 35 square meters, it was named Woody35. House consists of living room, the dining room and the bathroom. All of these are combined in a veneer-clad interior and every detail looks simple, but beautiful, that you cannot help admiring. For instance, in the living room area there is the built-in metal steps that lead up to a sleeping loft above the open fireplace. If you want to enlarge the living space there is situated a 15 square meter building, which combines with the main house perfectly and in various ways.
Amazing Woody homes became popular all around Norway. The creators of Woody35 have a plan to build a small cabin village to the west of the country in the beautiful landscape. But, the main architect likes small-scale structures more; Borge even compares the buying of such cabin with the doll’s house.
Design: Marianne Borge
Area: 35 square meters
Location: Norway
Year: 2013
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| Though Woody35’s compact size its shape allows the house to stand out from a background of the nature. |
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| The designers’ decision of the double height makes the living room look larger than the real space is. Next to the open fireplace there is the sleeping loft placed, where you can get by the stairs leading up. The wooden interior looks a bit rough because of the soapstone tiles and the wall, which is plastered. |
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| Woody35’s living area is open to the picturesque scenery. The floor is in solid birch and the walls and ceiling are clad in birch veneer. |
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| The living room area and the kitchen are share one space. On the right behind the plastered wall there is the bedroom and the bathroom. |
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| Phone | +47 917 38 702 |
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| mb@woody35.no | |
| Website | www.marianneborge.com |