Hamburgö house

Location: Bohuslän, Sweden

Year: 2021

Status: Built

Client: Private

Photo Credit: Mikael Olsson and manthey kula

Award: The Architectural Review AR House Award 2021 Highly Commended

In order not to destroy any part of the natural site by excavation, blasting or land-filling, the house is designed as a bridge spanning 29 meters from one bedrock plateau to another. The loadbearing structure consists of two laminated timber arches spanning across boulders left by the glacier more than 12 000 years ago. The arches were transported to the site by helicopter and bolted to steel brackets carefully placed and drilled into the granite. Two delicate steel trusses connect the building to the terrain bracing it against the heavy coastal winds.

 The house is on grid; infrastructure and geothermal heating is brought to the structure through a non-load bearing “inverted chimney”. The interior of the house is characterized by the ever-changing surrounding nature and of the surprisingly slender arches that are visible in every room. Twelve sliding doors provide functional flexibility and unexpected visual passages through the plywood clad spaces. Exterior materials are chosen with regards to the climate; timber treated with iron sulfate, windows and doors covered in raw aluminum, fittings and structural elements in stainless steel and roof cladding in zinc.