Swedish architecture and design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune has designed a Scandinavian holiday home featuring living spaces interspersed with courtyards that frame views towards the ocean.
The studio headed by Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune designed House of Many Courtyards for a tree-lined site set amongst sand dunes on the Scandinavian coastline.
The permitted building area for the house was just 170 square metres but the client wanted a house twice that size, so the architects were faced with the challenge of maximising the property's perceived area.
House of Many Courtyards nestles on a coastal, tree-lined site
The staggered plan comprising interconnected boxes flanked by courtyards ensures the living spaces enjoy views of the surroundings whilst also maintaining their privacy. "In the facade, each protruding box is a closed wall while full glazing is used inside the courtyards ? sometimes at their deep end, sometimes sideways facing," the architects pointed out. "Besides framing each view, the outlooks become very private."
It has a staggered plan composed of interconnected boxes
A 40-metre-long corridor forms a central spine that connects each of the individual boxes and extends the floor space of the various rooms. The varying heights of the rooms help to differentiate them from one another, both internally and externally.
"Each box was given a unique ceiling height in accordance with the function and proportion of the room,...