A Norwegian coastal cabin provides a platform for spectacular views
Architect Tommie Wilhelmsen turns constraints into elegance at this new cabin on the Norwegian coast

The Søgne Cabin is a modest structure on a spectacular site. Designed as a weekend retreat for an Oslo-based couple, the 100 sq m coastal cabin had to abide by strict laws restricting excessive development on Norway’s waterfront.
‘My experience is that in 2022, many Norwegians think that 100 m2 is actually a little too small for their dream cabin, a place for extended family and visiting friends,’ says architect Tommie Wilhelmsen, pointing out that there’s a steady stream of coverage of illegal extensions, dodgy dispensations, and code violations along the coast.
‘Instead, we embraced this project and accepted the limitation,’ he continues, ‘The cabin is small, but feels surprisingly large and airy when you are in it. The quality is not about square meters, but in the way it adapts to the landscape and reveals the horizon.’
Set on a slope overlooking an island-strewn bay on Norway's southern coast, the cabin is built and clad in oak. A new concrete foundation contains a pool and a glass-walled terrace opening off the main living spaces. The bedrooms are contained in a pitched roof structure that is raised up above the rocky landscape on slender concrete columns, while steps lead down to a private bathing platform on the edge of the water.
Wilhelmsen describes the project as an exercise in problem-solving, combining functions and unifying the interior and exterior space so that you never feel constricted by the limited floor area.
‘You walk to this cabin through dense forest and rugged terrain,’ he explains, ‘You go down a steep slope to get to the front door. When you enter, the cabin is like a large stage with the sea and the horizon as a backdrop. Walking through the dark forest and then reaching this open plateau overlooking the sea is a nice little ritual.’
Space-expanding tricks are everywhere, from the tall ceilings to the full-height windows. The architect points out spatial elements like the sofa that’s incorporated into the kitchen island, or the way the four bedrooms have vast glazed windows, so they didn’t appear like small ‘cells’.
Not only was the floor area constrained, by so was the height and angle pitch of the roof. ‘The task was then to draw something beautiful [within these limitations],’ the architect says, ‘But even within these strict and formal requirements, a lot is possible.’
Despite the setting and the scale, Wilhelmsen acknowledges that the cabin comes across as a blend of ‘poetic Scandinavian modernism’ and the more contemporary ‘paradise hotel’, complete with infinity pool and Boffi kitchen. ‘There was a long dialogue with the client about how much white modernism and how much ‘romantic wood’ was going into the project,’ he says.
One of Wilhelmsen’s earliest projects was the Aurland Lookout, a jutting springboard above one of Norway’s deepest fjords. Designed in collaboration with Todd Saunders, it marked the start of what he describes as ‘creating architecture that you can experience the landscape through.’
‘The buildings are like a movie, where I get to direct, take a camera and show the landscape,’ Wilhelmsen says, ‘Many people are concerned that all rooms should have the best view, I am more concerned that all rooms should have different views.’
INFORMATION
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Chanel unveils new Tweed de Chanel high jewellery
Chanel translates Gabrielle Chanel’s love of tweed into exquisite high jewellery
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
House of Gardens immerses architecture in Indian nature
House of Gardens by Kanan Modi was conceived as a home among nature, and is the Hyderabad base of an artist and her family
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Rado’s ceramic watches take inspiration from the world’s great gardens
New additions to the Rado True Thinline watch collection reinterpret exotic plants
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Seosaeng House is a holiday home designed to capture the rising sun
Seosaeng House, Studio Weave’s first project in South Korea, is a clifftop holiday home perfectly designed to capture a new day dawning over the East Sea
By SuhYoung Yun • Published
-
The finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond
For some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Modernist architecture: inspiration from across the globe
Modernist architecture has had a tremendous influence on today’s built environment, making these midcentury marvels some of the most closely studied 20th-century buildings; check back soon for new additions to our list
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
MJE House is a rural Brazilian retreat defined by its striking cantilever
MJE House by Jacobsen Arquitetura is an idyllic, rural Brazilian retreat defined by its contemporary forms and bold cantilever overlooking the countryside in Upstate São Paulo
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Villaggio Eni: a modernist gem in the Italian Dolomites
Designed by Eduardo Gellner in the 1950s, the Villaggio Eni holiday resort, in the Italian Dolomites, is being repurposed as a modernist refuge for artists and creatives
By Emma O'Kelly • Published
-
Members’ club 1 Warwick is a new home away from home in Soho, London
Members’ club 1 Warwick by Fettle Design opens its doors in central London, sharing round-the-clock offerings
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Azabudai Hills to bring a slice of wildness to Tokyo’s megacity
Heatherwick Studio’s design for Azabudai Hills aims to bring some soulfulness and a slice of wildness to the megacity
By Danielle Demetriou • Published
-
Hotel Marcel: the sustainable rebirth of a Marcel Breuer original
Hotel Marcel, a Marcel Breuer-designed, modernist architecture original, launches as sustainable hospitality in New Haven, Connecticut
By Daniel Scheffler • Published