This hunting lodge with an area of 35 square meters has been designed by Snøhetta Architecture and Design.
Description by Snøhetta: The hunting lodge is beautifully situated, alone beside a lake in the untouched mountain areas close to Åkrafjorden in the western part of Norway. It is accessible only by foot or horseback. The integration of the hut into the landscape has been an important part of the concept. The terrain is characteristic with grass, heather and rocks, and the hut’s shape, orientation, and materials are dictated by this.
Our challenge in this task was designing a mountain hut of maximum 35m2 with facilities for 21 persons. In order to achieve space for a amount of guests in a tiny space, we found inspiration in old traditions: a central fireplace as the gathering point. The beds along the walls works as seating in the evening – one furniture for the social, eating, and sleeping. A narrow zone by the entrance has equipment for cooking and storage.
The structure consists of two curved steel beams, connected with a continuous layer of hand cut logs of timber on top – a meeting between modern expression and traditional Norwegian mountain cabins. The roof “grows out of” the landscape, covered with grass. The materials of the facades are local stone, tar treated wood and glass.
Project: Snøhetta Architecture and Design
Location: Etne, Hordaland, Norway
Client: Osvald M. Bjelland
Typology: Shelter/hunting lodge
Size 35m²
Photography James Silverman