Unusual sites call for unusual designs. In this case the site is a long and narrow plot in an area with seasonal floods, and on one side adjoining neighbours.

The House on the Fjord’s elongated plan is a sequence of living spaces, each with their own volume and roof line. Every room has on one side the view of the open field, and on the other an access to the patio. Openings in the playful roofscape catch and redirect daylight in every space. The roofs stand on series of parallel walls which, like Japanese sliding walls, frame the view of the fjord.

To stay dry, the house hovers one and a half metres above the land, and extends above the fjord, like a jetty. The elevated patio, which can be accessed from every room, functions as a large outdoor living room, where family life unfolds even during the high-water season.

The main living space, which is centred around the kitchen, is surrounded by a study, a lounge, a library, a piano room, a playroom, and the patio. The exterior is clad with different types of woods, in a variation of plank sizes, orientations, textures, and surface finishes to create a rhythmic diversity in the elongated façade. The House on the Fjord is like an updated settlement of traditional fisherman’s huts: strangely familiar, and distinctively contemporary.