One of the most delightful things about the single-family home as a typology is the possibilities that it offers to modify it as spatial needs change through time. In comparison to the more rigid material limits of an apartment in a block or a row house, in most cases a free-standing house can be directly expanded (or contracted) in a variety of ways, outwards, downwards or upwards. All of life is impermanent, and the requirements that one has for a home will also inevitably change through time. A desire can arise for a larger bedroom, a smaller bedroom, a home office, a larger outdoor terrace, a smaller garden, a new greenhouse, a new bathroom. People get married and start to live together, get divorced and split (laughs), have children, have more children, one or more of the children grow up and leave, some members of the family move to a new location, other members of the family want to move in, and so on. Even in a catalogue house, it should be possible to accommodate many of these expected changes in one's life situation.
The ecohouse concept «SVITLO» is designed with several possibilities for expansions and adaptations in mind. I have illustrated three variations of the basic variant here.
Most importantly, there are very few completely flat sites, especially in Norway. Far too often we see catalogue houses built where the entire site has been altered to adapt it to the house (!). On a site with sloping terrain, it is possible therefore to build a variant with a lower level integrated into the terrain (Nor. underetasje). The kitchen and living room are moved down to the lower level, together with the primary bedroom and the greenhouse addition. It is also possible to build a further addition to the house to the east or west. The increased ceiling height over the living room and the large window surfaces ensure that enough light is still admitted to all rooms that lie beneath the average terrain level.
Some people do not have use for an attached greenhouse, and it is possible to replace this volume with a larger outdoor terrace. In such a variant, the garden also becomes larger. On the second floor, the plan is illustrated here with a fourth enclosed bedroom on the second floor. This bedroom can also receive a large internal window towards the opening in the ceiling over the living room.
If more rooms are desired, it is possible to expand the house with small additions on the east and west facades. Here there could be placed a bedroom, an office, or even a small apartment that could be rented out or turned into a more private part of the house for an older teenager. A room to the east will receive access through a door in the kitchen, while a room to the west receives access through an elongated hallway. If the bathroom window to the east is removed, a private outdoor room can be created in connection with the bathroom on the north side. Here there could be established a small private garden.
In the future I plan also to design a smaller basic variant of this house (ca. 100-120 m2), as well as a variant which can be partitioned off on the inside to accommodate even more unsual family situations.
***