Some images of the final concept for the renovation and expansion of a small cabin in the north of Norway. I quite like how this one turned out. The interior is opened up completely and expanded with a new addition on the west side, with a large new corner window that looks directly out to the fjord. The existing veranda on the south side is expanded across the new addition to create a larger outdoor terrace. On the north side is a second addition with an improved entrance area and a bedroom with its own corner window where one can lie in bed and watch the landscape. We are going to try to lay a new grass roof over the entire cottage, although it will look just as good if it has to be a tile roof in the end. This project represents perfectly what I often try to do when designing expansions where part of the existing structure has to be retained in its entirety. The new additions respect the forms and materials of the existing cabin, while subtle details and modern patterns create new q

Concept sketches of ideas for greenhouses/winter gardens. I am interested in how dwellings can be integrated with plant systems, because there is increasingly a lack of unique personality in living spaces and I think it is possible to create closer connections between well-being, ecology and the organisation of space. People like to live with plants, and very few spaces give them the opportunity to do so. One solution is to integrate a greenhouse into a house. I have always had a personal affinity for spaces that are intended specifically to be filled with plants. In addition to supporting productive plant societies, these can become semi-climatised living rooms that also can be used to pre-heat ventilation air, strengthen natural ventilation, capture and store heat and filter greywater. This is something we should see a lot more of, especially in cold climate regions. ***

Recently I have been working on the renovation/reconstruction of a small cabin in Ringerike kommune a few hours north of Oslo. The existing cabin lies on a rather unusual site, squeezed in on a narrow stretch of land between the highway E16 to the east and the lake Sperillen to the west. It was originally built in the 1960s. It does not have integrated running water, and consists of one large room and a partially covered balcony which lies on top of a high foundation pedestal. A tiny sleeping area has been partitioned off to the east. Small houses like this are a delight to work with. The project brief is to reorganize the space within the cabin to create at least two new bedrooms and a bathroom in addition to the living area. Because of the cabin’s location, it comes into conflict with a lot of invisible rules that must be followed in Norway: buildings must be placed at least 4 metres from the property line, and no new construction is allowed within 100 metres of the shoreline. Here w

Some recent drawings inspired by the isolation of modern urban environments. It has always struck me as odd that people in most cities tend to experience high levels of disconnection from each other, despite that they exist within a geographical area that is most densely populated when the city is considered as an areal unit in comparison to its surroundings. Initially you would assume that urban life would offer endless opportunities to be acknowledged and seen in a meaningful way by others, but this tends rarely to be the case in reality. It can be argued that much of this state is a consequence of social norms and modern technology, but it is interesting that the structure of the material environment that humans supposedly build for themselves is in many ways organised to separate, suppress and isolate. A room gives rise to a curious existential state. Walls, ceilings and floors have as one of their primary functions to separate, to create a newly defined space which is at least par

Also on the drawing board right now is an expansion of a small cottage in Salangen kommune in the north of Norway. The cottage was originally built with a log structure (Norwegian laft), and in 2006 it was expanded with a larger addition on the south side which appears today to be the primary space. The log cabin is in quite poor technical condition, and needs to be repaired and rebuilt. The owners also wish to expand the living space in the newer part, especially to create a better visual connection with the landscape outside. As is typical for the north of Norway, the place has fantastic qualities. The cottage is a simple structure with pitched roofs in two directions, and it made sense to plan new additions as natural extensions of these roofs. The owners often rent out this cottage in the summer to tourists, and therefore in the concept phase of this project I tried to come up with solutions that could turn this cottage into a bit of a unique destination. The living room is expande

One of the ongoing projects that I take into the new year is a renovation of a small single-family home in Asker. The existing house was built in 1965, and little has been done to it since. In typical catalogue-house style, it has a total area of 158 m2 and consists of a lower level with concrete external walls partially built down into the terrain and an upper level with a wood frame and symmetrical pitched roof. The structure is simple in accordance with its time, with a load-bearing wall in the middle of the lower level to support the floor and roof trusses that span directly between the external walls. There is also a large garden on the eastern part of the site. A specific challenge with this house is that it has two levels over terrain and large window surfaces on the north side, which faces an adjacent forest patch. There is very little visual contact with the garden to the east, and few openings to the south. It is a delight to work with houses like this, because there is a sol