The Johansen Skovsted Arkitekter studio collaborated with Lasc Studio to bring the character of the original dwelling back, but in a form suitable for contemporary living.
The cottage is located in a protected landscape with historic vacation homes carefully placed in slopes of overgrown moraine and sand dunes, rising from surrounding flatlands. The reconstruction’s ambition is to recreate the sense and atmosphere of being in the old house before it was left unused and timber infestation made a rebuilding unavoidable.
Built in 1905 as two detached log houses later merged by the addition of a kitchen, the house was gradually transformed, including architect Ivar Bentsen’s addition of a stove and chimney, and supplemented by a shed. The interior acquired a dense layered atmosphere of partly painted wooden surfaces, peculiar alcoves and niches.
The structure is rebuilt as a wooden light-frame construction, allowing an exterior based on the protected expression of the old house. The new interior interprets memories and accumulated features for contemporary conditions, informed by the modern structure.
The new shed is built based on a thorough survey of the old, with some adjustments. Pinewood makes up the structure. Spruce cladding is untreated in the interior, with the ceiling boards painted in a grey blue shade stemming from the main house. Old bricks from the main house terrace are reused for the floor. The original roof structure used collar beams, making it impossible to move upright through the shed. The new structure consists of rafters resting of on the ridge beam and the outer wall structure, to on one side lined with built-in shelves, enable one uninterrupted space.
