Sitting on a steep cliff overlooking the Mastrafjord in Norway, Vacation House by Espen Surnevik has sliding doors that enable it to become a single continuous space.
Oslo-based Survenik designed the house overlooking the rocky landscape to be a vacation home that could serve both as a working retreat and as a place to host guests near the city of Stavanger.

To cater for this, the plan of the house was organised into modules of 3.5 x 3.5 metres, with certain modules able to be zoned-off using sliding doors depending on the level of privacy required.
Thin steel columns are arranged according to this grid, and along with load-bearing brick walls form the structure of the house, which sits atop a thick concrete base.

The house celebrates the contrast of its two aspects. In one direction is the open landscape of the fjord, and in the other is the sheer face of the cliff, viewable through openings in the back wall look directly at dramatically lit areas of this rock. "The house is planned to bring the beauty of the geology into the building through glass openings placed close to the natural wall of rock behind," explained Survenik. "In this way the location becomes an important part of the interior and the experience of the spaces inside.

The angled arrangement of the square modules creates a zig-zag facade that is alternately clad or glazed depending on interior use. This stepped design also helps to temper strong winds from the North Sea.

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