Spröjs House

Visiondivision was commissioned to design an extension to an old house on the Swedish countryside. The house should include a master bedroom, a room for clothing care, a work space and a space for coffee and breakfast.
The clients told us that they like typical old Swedish red houses with mullion windows (spröjs in Swedish) but where ok to build a house without mullions since they knew that modern architects don’t like that type of houses. But an ok house for the client is simply not good enough for visiondivision so we started to design a house with a huge mullion window as its main feature.


Mullion window from inside, From left: home office, timber storage, coffee table

The mullion window covers the front facade of the house facing the garden that slopes towards the nearby lake.
Since the mullion covers the best views from the house we started to add some extra functions to it by extruding the mullion towards the inside making different types of shelves.
The shelves where then designed for different functions for a relaxed and life cherishing atmosphere; a work space, a space to hangout and enjoy a coffee or breakfast, and a lot of storage places for books, DVDs and such.
In the original sketch a bathtub and a fireplace where also part of the mullion window but had to be relocated according to the client’s wish.


Morning at Spröjs House, From left: closet, fireplace, concrete slab for spark protection, timber storage

Due to the landscape the house is divided into three levels. One upper level that is more leisure oriented with a master bedroom and a coffee/breakfast shelf in the mullion. Then follows a thin middle level that has a battery of functions, including a wardrobe that can be reached from the upper and lower level and a fire place with storage for timber in the mullion, and finally a lower level that is more work related with a room for clothing care and a small home office in the mullion.


Home office


Architects having coffee in their latest masterpiece


Closet from the clothing care room



The house is connected to the chief house via a glass corridor with a small stair that leads up to the main buildings dining room. Since the new house is heated with floor heating we designed the railing with the floor heating going through them for a comfortable welcoming to the new house. The glass corridor also serves as the entrance to the two outdoor areas; one towards the lake for the sunrise and one towards the back of the building for Swedish midsummer sunset.


Backside of the house with the windows of the clothing care room


Gutters, a tribute photography from Clive Jenkins to Åke E Lindman


Mullion window at dawn


Mullion window at dawn


Mullion window at dawn


Floor plan


Section A-A


Section D-D


Detail of mullion window


Additional drawings; sections and facades

Deer Grotto

Visiondivision was commissioned to build a house among a group of cottages from the 18th century. The client wanted the house to blend in with this environment, especially from one side where the client’s conservative mother has her cottage and watchful eyes. We therefore made a building that blends in so good that it is almost invisible. The site where the client wanted to add an extension is sloping from the old cottage down towards a small creek. We excavate this hill to build a concrete vault in its place, punctuate it with strategically located holes for light and then we cover it up with the soil we moved. The result is a slightly bigger knoll. A couple of deer statues is placed on top of the building and some of them are hollow and covers the holes and becomes the light shafts themselves. Besides from being light shafts they are also acting as a reference point for the content of the house. Two resting hollow deer is placed over the bedrooms, a solid deer that jumps out of a small pond that is a light shaft is placed over the bathroom, a solid drinking deer is directed over the kitchen and a mighty hollow buck sits on top of the living room.
The house itself is connected with the old cottage with an internal stair.
The stair divides the extension into a social zone and a quieter one.
The social zone consists of a small kitchen and a living room with a glass façade towards a nice river view which also is the only visible façade of the house.
The bathroom and the sleeping area are slightly darker and the over lights gives a nice change of contrasts throughout the day.


Deer on the roof

Exterior - winter

Bathroom

Interior with river view backdrop

Interior, livingroom

Ground floor plan

Roof plan

Section

Sub-Zero

An arctic winter of ice age proportions has struck Stockholm.
In the middle of these sub-zero conditions a new client approached the team.
She wanted to build a new house among a group of cottages from the 18th century, a very delicate task that the talents just couldn’t refuse.
The team went out in to the frost covered woods with shovels, trying to clear the site from snow so they could measure it up before coming up with an idea as eminent as the mission.

Wat Hut

We got a commission to do an extension of a private house outside Stockholm for a Swedish-Thai couple. The woman has two children back in Thailand that now is going to move in to the house.
The site is very idyllic and Swedish and the house is situated on a southern slope to a beautiful and calm lake. Moving to a completely different country can be difficult, especially if you are a kid, so we wanted to give the Thai-kids some playful elements to easier adjust to their new country.



The new house follows the form and scale of the old building but has a more modern expression with a white and shining corrugated steel façade that slightly reflects the surroundings.
Different functions interlink in this extension to include all family members but the focus is onthe children.



The new building consists of two rooms for the children with views towards the lake and a family room between the rooms with an undulated fake grass floor that offers a relaxed atmosphere.
The room can be completely opened at summertime, so the children rooms will feel like two small cottages and the family room will extend to the nature around it.
The Swedish man likes golf so the grass will be an ideal spot for a driving range.





A cliff next to the house on the northern side is painted in gold as a symbol of Thailand and a place where the mother can have her shrine where she occasionally can pray.
The gold is lit up at nighttime and will be highly present in the family room while playing Nintendo.
The proposal is still under evaluation; we will give you more information about the outcome later on.

Spring Clean Up

Visiondivision has produced a lot of material over the last five years, sometimes we forget that we actually made them. During a spring clean up in the office, our co-worker Clive found some early material that never have been published so far, so here you go;


The vd alley where some of the early work reside


Slope House - avant garde villa with a fake tree that you can pull away to open the livingroom glass pane.


Villa Jaws - Three shells creates shelter for this little summer residence.


Summerhouse Archipelago edition - A floating summerhouse with an integrated rubber terrace that follows the water's movement among other things.

Summerhouse Ocean View edition - A simple yet delightful creation that has intricate room sequences.

Postcard House

2008-03-19

Visiondivision got a commision to do a villa outside of Granada, Spain.
With a new groundbreaking concept, they hope that this one will turn into a true classic masterpiece.

The concept for this villa has its origin in the breathtaking views from the site over a mountain range and the ocean on the southern coast of Spain. We wanted to frame this view, improve it even further and treat it as a postcard, and also give our clients even more postcards to see and live their everyday life in.These postcards often get a double function, they become a great view for the room and you can also enter them and enjoy this quality space.

When one enter the house, such a postcard is visible in the far end of the kitchen; a big window pane where you can see an orange tree patio with orange mosaic as hardscape.These views are treated like classical paintings with foreground, motive and background.This makes it interesting to move around throughout the house because you always have something interesting to lay your eyes on.

If you turn your head towards the living room, you will see another painting.This one is showing the main terrace and the infinite pool in the foreground, the people who swims in it as the motive and with the mountains and the ocean view as the background.

The house has three floors with different characters and functions.The house has a logic layout but is at the same time complex. You can move around in the house in different ways both from the inside and the outside, which creates a lot of variation and interesting places.

A guesthouse is located at the entrance with a small kitchen, a bathroom and with a small patio.Postcard: The olive slopes

The first floor is the open, social space with the living room and the kitchen with access to an orange tree patio and to the big terrace with the infinite pool.Postcards: The Infinite pool, An orange tree patio, A harley davidson in a cactus hedge, A special fire place

The middle floor is for the children with a shared bathroom with a trampoline.A shaded patio is accessible from the children’s floor.Postcards: The trampoline, The playground

The top floor is a master suite for the parents with a fireplace and a moveable bathtub among other features.From the bathroom you have an ocean view and a door that leads to the roof terrace, where a 360 degree view of the whole landscape awaits.Postcards: Fire place from the bathtub, The 360 Degree view

Nighttime at the postcard house.

The three stories of the house shifts in size according to functions and views and is together combined into a strict composition.The material of the façade is white mosaic that reflects light and therefore subtly alters its colour and appearance according to the time of the day.

A layout of the buildings on the site.

The plans

Section

More information and additional images will soon come up.

Nice Price Slice

A perfect solution for a difficult plot with a demanding budget and constraints.
An old path flanked with high leaf trees is re-used as the driveway to the house.
A weather protected verandah functions as a second livingroom that can be closed off by large drapes.
The most beautiful spot of the site is seen from a panorama window from the living room.
The shape of the house creates a slope that becomes a stair to the upper floor, but also a relaxation ramp with a big screen for cozy movie nights.
The ramp ends in a terrace with a magnificent view of the surrounding farmland.
Work in progress, more info coming soon.


Diagram


Entrance that can be closed off with drapes


View towards the livingroom


Overlooking the surrounding farmlands from the roof terrace