Swedish architecture firm In Praise Of Shadows likes experimentation. Ever since we featured the small, dynamic studio in our Architects Directory in 2013, the Stockholm based firm, founded by Katarina Lundeberg and Fredric Benesch, has been exploring ways of creating architecture, focused on sustainable materials and wooden constructions as an intelligent way to build.
‘[In this context] our aim and interest is to create clean, easily legible spaces and clear forms, while being practical and meeting the needs and dreams of our clients,' says Lundeberg. ‘We also hope to create twists on what is considered normal, or the ordinary, but without going too far towards the impossible.'
Their Wallpaper* Handmade pavilion Passage of Wood, created with Danish wood specialist Dinesen and Carpenter Oliver Beer, a cabinetmaker from Bregenzerwald, in 2014 was a key example of their investigative nature – the pair not only truly enjoyed the process of discovery and collaboration, but they even ensured their design got a new lease of life as a kayak house a few years ago (see the May 2018 issue of Wallpaper*). Now, the studio has just completed a new project that allowed them to test materials and ideas; welcome to Atelier Grytnäs.
The compact holiday cabin was created as a small retreat for Lundberg and her family, and as such it contains just one main living space and three modest bedrooms and a bathroom. It was also a chance to try out the potential of CLT (cross-laminated solid timber) in a small scale structure – the project spans just 44 sq m.
RELATED STORY
A simple volume with a clean, pitched roof outline features large openings that frames sea views, as the cabin is perched on rocks and orientated towards the water. Creating this using CLT wooden boards from KLH in Austria, the architects were able to achieve a comfortable 4m x 10m span, which allows a column-free interior. The bathroom and a concrete chimney create an anchoring core for the structure.
The project also includes sustainable, wood fibre insulation from Steico, a copper roof, and Swedish wood facade. Interiors are warm and similarly minimalist, featuring Dinesen Ash wood flooring and linseed oil treated walls.
Sat in its beautiful natural setting, on Lisö Island, an hour's drive south of Stockholm, Atelier Grytnäs is in good company; the Gunnar Asplund-designed Summer House, and Blueberry house by British architect Ralph Erskine can also be found nearby.
‘We feel that our ten year old office is still in the beginning,' says Benesch. ‘Our aim is to do interesting architecture while maintaining a relatively small scale (we now have a staff of five-six employees), in order to be able to be personally involved in the design process, from initial idea to the last detail.'
MORE FROM WALLPAPER* ARCHITECTS DIRECTORY 2020
INFORMATION
-
Caribbean cool meets mid-century glamour at this new LA hotspotFrom golden mirrored chambers to jerk-spiced tomahawk steaks, Lucia reimagines Afro-Caribbean dining and design
-
Tour this fire-resilient minimalist weekend retreat in CaliforniaA minimalist weekend retreat was designed as a counterpoint to a San Francisco pied-à-terre; Edmonds + Lee Architects’ Amnesia House in Napa Valley is a place for making memories
-
Love, community, anti-gay laws: the queer African artists redefining visibility through portraitsIn honour of Pride Month, Ugonnaora Owoh speaks to three artists on African queer legacies and their optimism in advocating for queer rights through art
-
This striking new vineyard is putting Swedish wine on the mapBerglund Arkitekter completes a new home for Kullabergs Vingård in Sweden's verdant Skåne country
-
‘Close to solitude, but with a neighbour’: Furu’s cabins in the woods are a tranquil escapeTaking its name from the Swedish word for ‘pine tree’, creative project management studio Furu is growing against the grain
-
Stockholm Wood City: inside the extraordinary timber architecture projectStockholm Wood City is leading the way in timber architecture; we speak to the people behind it to find out the who, what, why and how of the project
-
A bold new water tower by White Arkitekter strides across the Swedish landscapeThe Våga Water Tower in Varberg is a monument to civil engineering, a functional concrete sculpture that's designed to last for centuries
-
This Swedish summer house is a family's serene retreat by the trees and the Baltic seaHorsö, a Swedish summer house by Atelier Alba is a playfully elegant retreat by the Kalmarsund Sea and a natural reserve
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
This Stockholm house cascades towards the Swedish seashoreA private Stockholm house by Ström Architects makes the most of its natural setting, while creating a serene haven for its owners
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
