Location: Finland
Architect: Architectural office Louekari
Material: wood & Glass
Completion date: 2012
Site area: 55m2
Architects: Architectural office Louekari
Photographer: Lauri Louekari, Kaisa Siren
Story:
Text provided by the architects:
The Villa Valtanen stands on top of a rocky outcrop with views towards the distant fells through the surrounding forest. The immediate surrounding contains standing, dead pine trunks, the scars of old forest fires, and fine glacial boulders. The task was to design a wilderness hideaway consisting of a living room and sauna with a separate woodshed. Between the buildings is a terrace which provides access to both.
The living room and sauna have a log frame with fishtail corner joints. Between them is a lofty space with big windows opening onto the fell landscape of forest Lapland. The log frames here are not load-bearing, but the building has a series of beams which carry the laminated-veneer-lumber rafters. The side walls are clad in tarred 45 mm planking which acts like a “raincoat” and allows the use of short eaves with almost no overhang. The gable walls are sheltered by traditional eaves with a long overhang. The dark finish on the external walls helps the building to melt into the landscape. In contrast, the oiled natural-wood finish brings light to the entrance facades.
The theme of this building constructed to the north of Rovaniemi and the Arctic Circle is localization. The log frames, windows, doors, facade moldings, and other joinery were made by local firms. The only products imported from outside were the solar panels and their batteries and the composting toilet.
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