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