Saunders & Wilhelmsen Arkitektur AS
Summer House
Åland, Finland

Photo courtesy Saunders & Wilhelmsen Arkitektur AS

The Summer House is situated in a pine forest on Åland, a Finish Island group in the Baltic Sea, close to Stockholm. Placed just 40 meters from the waters edge, the 42 square meter house was completed in the summer of 2002.

The concept was to create a continuous long folding wooden structure that moves up, down, over, and under through the various spaces, and includes all the  functions. The folding structure creates all the parts of the house: the walls, floor, roof, roof garden, stair and sitting spaces.  The house is constructed on pillars to conserve the natural landscape and the roots of all the trees.

Photo courtesy Saunders & Wilhelmsen Arkitektur AS

The house almost doubles in size when opened to the outdoor room between the kitchen and bedroom; creating one large room with a view through the pine forest.
From the roof garden there is a panoramic view over the many island around Åland.

Photo courtesy Saunders & Wilhelmsen Arkitektur AS

The house is constructed of pine timber, from a local sawmill, with birch boards on top of birch plywood.
It is insulated with woven linseed fibres and all the wood is protected with cold pressed linseed oil; making it environmentally responsible.  

Drawing courtesy Saunders & Wilhelmsen Arkitektur AS

"The whole process has been a very positive experience for us as young architects.  Four of our students from the Bergen School of Architecture were involved in the construction process and we were fortunate enough to work with a client who wanted to create experimental and radical architecture."
Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen

Saunders & Wilhelmsen Arkitektur AS

July 28, 2003