Saltviga House is a celebration of no-waste creativity

hero exterior of Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

(Image credit: Johan Dehlin)

published 31 March 2023

What started as an experiment resulted in Saltviga House – an idyllic timber dwelling on the south coast of Norway. Nestled in a wooded plot overlooking the sea, this family home was conceived with 'gentleness' in mind, explain its creators, the Sweden-based studio Kolman Boye Architects, founded in 2013 by Erik Kolman Janouch and Victor Boye Julebäk.

Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

Saltviga House: a celebration of timber offcuts

What underlines this approach, and makes Saltviga House stand out, is that it utilises offcuts from the production of Dinesen oak planks. These compose very visibly its roof and exterior walls, giving it its shingle-like appearance.

Taking their cues from the beautiful material, Kolman and Boye crafted a home that feels at once cosy and environmentally responsible; they are deft hands at creating inspiring architecture using timber, as well as the cabin and rural home typology, as work such as Rotunda Serotina for Wallpaper* Handmade 2015 and Vega Cottage demonstrate. At the same time, every piece of offcut used in the house was checked and tested for its durability against the often harsh Norwegian weather.

exterior of Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

The house's layout was also designed to respect its surroundings. It is divided into two main volumes with a simple outline shaped like an archetypal house. Open timber terraces unite everything, showcasing beautifully its Dinesen oak and Douglas species.

Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects , seen here sat on a rocky outcrop

'It is no coincidence that the house was built from the most beautiful natural material in the world. In fact, the building is defined by the unique properties of wood – its tactile expression and dimensions, the way it ages and responds,' the architects write. 'Saltviga House encapsulates the intention of creating meaningful and enduring projects from the resources afforded by nature and the forest.'

hero interior with pitched roof/ceiling at Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

glass walls at Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

interior with timber and books atSaltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

interior at Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

view from Saltviga House, on the south coast of Norway by Architects Kolman Boye Architects

kolmanboye.com

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).