Sunday 26 January 2014

HAMRA BY DINELLJOHANSSON - A BEAUTIFUL SWEDISH SUMMER HOUSE






  















I am constantly looking for inspiration for my own little 'summer-house-project in South Africa' in a small town called Darling, just a 45 minute drive from Cape Town.  For those of you who follow me on Pinterest - you may have noticed my board:  plot 3604 weekend getaway
And you may also have noticed that my style often changes from traditional farm-house, barn-house to very minimal modernist Farnsworth-house like structures.  And that is just exactly where the (nice) problem lies  -  there is an open plot of land with hardly any restrictions.  My imagination is the only limit.  However, I want to build something that will be respectful to the local vernacular and compliment the neighbouring properties.

Lately I have fallen back on some initial ideas - a barn-like structure with a gabled roof, and some mezzanine/ loft sleeping areas.  I still would like to have an indoor courtyard, and think I have found a perfect solution.  I will share some of my latest sketches in the next few days. Any comments would be most appreciated and very welcome indeed.

Now.... on this note, I have found this almost perfect inspiration of a Swedish Summer House in Hamra.  I quote from thisispaper....

This beautifully simple summer house designed by Swedish architecture studio DinellJohansson is located in Hamra, Gotland, Sweden. Local tradition of stone houses resulted in using lightweight conctrete masonary blocks as the main material, but with focus on sustainability and minimalisation of waste. Unique furniture and clever use of space and dividers make this house one of a kind.

"The brief came out of the very limited budget: a house as simple as possible. Equally simple as the barn we wanted to convert to a summer dwelling, but which never showed up on the market: one open space with a large number of possible beds, cooking in the middle, washing facilities outside the house. Planing regulations ruled the placement of the house to the inner part of the plot which at the time of designing was still densly vegetated and scarcely accesible. Hence the house was designed with generic qualities, creating no front- or backside, treating all sides of the site equally. Four large openings 2,4x2m are placed according to rotational symmetry, one in each facade. Facing north is a fixed window, the other three are glazed doors. There is no hierarchy between the doors – anyone can be used as an entrance. Two roof windows add skylight to the interior.

The interior space is dominated by two plywood volumes which, in and above, offer space to play and to sleep. Around and between these volumes entrance, cooking, dining and living takes place. All serving functions are organized along a 90cm wide strip running through the house. All technical equipment and all water and drainage is located along this strip which limited the complexity of installation work. Spacial functions like stairs, storage, closets, bookshelf etc. are also located along the serving strip. In the middle there is the kitchen which consists of a 3,1mx0,9m concrete bench with an integrated fire-place. It is cast in situ and the cupboards are remaining parts of the cast. In this case the formwork plywood has been used for its actual purpose.

There is a surviving tradition of small-scale window manufacturing on Gotland which made it possible to try the unconventional sollution of windows mounted outside the walls which allowes them to open up 180degrees. With the windowframe flush to the nichewalls and the floor the opening appears from the inside as a clean undetailed hole in the wall. Opening up, the doors are held in place along the facade by a simple spring steel fitting.

Due to lack of timber in history, wooden construction which is favored elsewhere in Sweden, is not as dominant on the island of Gotland. Instead the local building tradition has resulted in simple plastered stone houses with few details.
For that reason the house was given a traditional building volume with plastered walls and with a 45degrees gable roof without gutters. The walls are built out of lightweight conctrete masonary blocks and the roof is cladded with corrugated Aluzink steel sheets, preferably used on farm buildings in the region. Measurements of the building volume and openings are chosen to fit the size of the masonary blocks so the waste of material could be minimized.."



Words: DinellJohansson, Thisispaper
Photography: Elisabeth Toll

SUNDAY MORNING MUSINGS


I got up early this morning, so I could have a bit more day to enjoy.  Set the alarm for 7:20 , snoozed a bit and got up at 7:40 am.   It is Sunday after all.... 

Nonetheless I made my way downstairs and put on some coffee - when I looked out the backdoor over the garden my eyes were drawn to the most beautiful pink skies and shimmers of sun-streaks - this was daybreak.  It only lasted a couple of minutes but in those minutes I felt so blessed to have been able to enjoy such a magnificent scene in the quiet of the day.

I like early mornings when its quiet outside and the world is still in slumber, there's a certain magical energy which I just don't feel later on in the day.  In the week I can't fully appreciate early mornings as its always a bit of a rush to get ready for work and out the door;  but - now I have found this happy place again I know its worth getting up just a tad earlier for and to enjoy in silence and start the day with some early morning reflections.

Have a great Sunday everybody,  even though it may be grey out there, always carry your happy place in your heart

xx

Image via design shimmer

Thursday 23 January 2014

MONOCHROME AND WOOD STOCKHOLM APPARTMENT










This is a show apartment for Sjövik quay on Liljeholmskajen in Stockholm  - minimal decor and monochrome colour scheme -  complimented by the use of marble and concrete and wood for warmth.

At the moment my biggest major deadline is filing my tax return by 31 January.  Once that big hurdle is out of the way I will start de-cluttering too.  Its good to have projects like these to remind ourselves of how little we need to actually live a perfectly wonderful and happy and content life! 

Less is more - this will be my motto for the rest of the year! 


First spotted via my scandinavian home
Images via feeling inspired blog

Sunday 19 January 2014

THIS WEEK'S INSPIRATION


Basically a very beautiful and warm but minimal lounge space - it works
Very well!



Via Pinterest

Thursday 16 January 2014

WORDS THAT INSPIRE








Just a few quotes that I felt really spoke to me and wanted to share with you all today .... 

Images via Pinterest

Wednesday 15 January 2014

WHITE SCANDINAVIAN INTERIOR WITH A TOUCH OF SOFT PINK






Love these beautiful images of a bright and white home, and that soft pink rug and cushion cover is to die for!

Images via house of philia

Saturday 11 January 2014

INDUSTRIAL APARTMENT IN SWEDEN DESIGNED BY JOHAN ISRAELSON











First spotted via Nordic Design;  this raw industrial apartment has a certain masculine edge, yet a lightness and brightness which sits rather nicely amongst the dark interior furniture and ironmongery.  Those cement finish walls are absolutely perfectly imperfect, just the way I like it!

Designed by Swedish architect and interior designer, Johan Israelson.

Images via Vosgesparis