// The Place - By the sea

 

Höllviken is situated south of Malmö, 30 minutes´from the bridge to Copenhagen and Denmark. The region with Skanör, Falsterbo, Ljunghusen and Höllviken is famous for its beaches and sand dunes. A place for summerhouses and vacations. Most of the sites are, today, turned into permanent living. Historically, Skanör and Falsterbo were the centre for herring fishing.

The client bought the site with an old summerhouse from the 1940s, one of the few remaining sites in the surroundings. The site is on the edge of the settlement and nature, facing south and west with the sea on a short distance. A beautiful place with sand, heather, moss and pine trees, not far from the Falsterbo channel. During WWII the site was a part of the Swedish defence line “Per Albin-line” that stretched around the shores of southern Sweden. There are several concrete tank obstacles which we were not allowed to move.

 

 

 

// The vision

 

The client had a dream. They wanted a modern, timeless home with respect for the site and its surroundings. The client had a spacious program and wanted light and openness but at the same time privacy. They wanted a two-storey house and us to maximize the building area. The building regulations for the site were a challenge. You were, originally, allowed to build one storey houses but there is a praxis to build in two storeys if the upper floor is withdrawn 45 degrees on the facades that count as calculation
based. It was also possible to add a guesthouse with a size of 30 square meter. The intension was to make a place with atmosphere. By placing most of the new volumes where the old summer house was located, many trees and much of the natural land with sand and heather could be retained. The orientation on the site was governed by the building regulations and the sun direction with views towards sea and nature.

The volumes were also grouped with private and social spaces apart and as sequences for spatial experience. Two floors were made possible by the large, recessed balconies facing southwest and the sea. The spaces invite you to move and circulate. The living-, dining- and kitchen area are one open plan where the living space is almost 6 meters high. The visual connection with the upper floor where important for the client. There are many sightlines through the spaces towards the outside. The space on the southwest corner on the upper floor was originally planned as an atelier, where you can glimpse the sea and the sunset. The house was planned with a loadbearing structure of glued laminated columns and beams, visible from both outside and inside. The intention was a building system where brick, massive wood and glass were treated as panels in a grid. The house is now carried out with a hidden structure and ordinary walls.

 

 

 

 

 

// Light and materials - Brick and wood

 

The experience of light in the house, throughout time and season, were important when placing openings in the walls. Light from different directions and possibilities to connect with the nature outside. The different volumes are articulated with large overhanging eaves which provides shadow in summertime. The combination of brick and wood paneling for the exterior was an intention from the beginning.

Brick walls as powerful boundaries between the different volumes and towards the north. The walls were meant to be fully bricked with the interior walls and fireplace in the living space all in brick. The ULTIMA brick was perfect for the longstretched volumes, the horizontal lines, and the scale. The ruff texture with materiality and the colours in tone with dry and wet sand. Together with the fine sawn, standing wooden panel, ULTIMA was the optimal choice. A sustainable house for social life but also a private retreat after the day´s work. The wind from the sea and the smell from the pine trees and the carpets of heather and moss. The daylight filtering through the branches and the sunset between the tree trunks. Sand and brick. Pine trees and wood panel. A poetic place for life.

 

 

 

 

 

// Koistinen Hellborg Architects

 

Koistinen Hellborg Architects, a family company,based in Skåne, in the south of Sweden. We develop, formalize and shape thoughts and ideas regardless of scale and content. We have extensive experience in realizing architectural potential. 70 years ago, Karl Koistinen started his architectural office in Lund. 50 years ago, Göran Hellborg and Maria Koistinen Hellborg started working with Karl. The constellation of the business has been changing and has resulted in almost a thousand different projects, of which a couple of hundred have been built. Buildings of different sizes and scales, for different businesses and for different clients.

Many of the projects are in brick. An ambition to design interesting houses for experience has remained constant throughout the years. Koistinen Hellborg Architects is the latest stage in their metamorphosis. With knowledge and experience in thought and action combined with an optimistic primal force, they design sustainable living environments with high qualities. Poetic visions in time and space. Koistinen Hellborg work with the simple ambition to design an architecture that stands above the trends of the time.

 

 

 

// Ultima - No everlasting beauty begins with a compromice

 

For more than a century, we have developed and perfected our products - brick by brick. Ultima represents the pinnacle of our crafts-manship: a linear-format, waterstruck brick, rich in texture and character. Formed from Ice Age clay, unearthed, shaped, and fired to achieve timeless perfection. Made to endure for generations. Designed to be beautiful. And to stay beautiful.

 

 

 

// Facts

Project
Seaside House

Location
Sweden

Architects: Koistinen / Hellborg Architects

Product:
RT 151 Ultima