Farmhouse Rennesøy

The new farmhouse is placed around 150m from the old farmbuildings, not to disturb the completed cluster of these farmbuildings. The immediate surroundings have extraordinary qualities, large trees, stonewalls, a slope with grass and stones resembling Japanese gardens and a distant view of sea.
The house utilizes an old pigsty as a foundation for the house, also providing the house with utility-spaces; storage and laundry/farm-entrance. The new volume is raised above ground to leave the ground as untouched as possible. The main volume of the house is small, only 118sqm, and it was built with a very limited budget. The plan is simple, a cross in the middle of the rectangle is providing space for storage, bathroom, entrance, etc. Crosswise the core is slightly offset to make the kitchen and living-room deeper than the 4 other (sleeping-)rooms of the house. The plan offers the users different movement-patterns in spite of the modest size. The body of the house is like a tunnel, with the ends all open, making the house seem symmetrical, but the relation with the surroundings opposes this symmetry; very intimate on one side, wide open on the other. Both kitchen and living-room have raised ceilings. The house is to a high degree prefabricated, using massiv-wood technology for both floor, lateral walls and roof. The prefabricated wood (spruce) is left in its natural state. The cores are conventionally built and painted black.