Villa Tjurpannan is a holiday home situated at the edge of a nature reserve on the Swedish west coast. With its low silhouette and dark colour scheme, the house has a reserved design, allowing nature to take centre stage. On the long sides of the building, Design sliding doors and fixed lights offer views of the original landscape.
| Type of Building | Private Home |
| Product areas | Windows Sliding doors |
| Schüco Systems | AWS 75.SI+ ASE 80.HI |
| Features | New build Design and Aesthetics |
| Location | Tanum, Sweden |
| Completion | 2023 |
| Architects | Helgesson Gonzaga |
| Specialist company | Vetri i Göteborg |
| Picture credits | Krister Engström |
Marie and Daniel Gonzaga purchased a barren plot of land with rocks, pine trees and low bushes, situated right on the edge of the heathland that is part of the Tjurpannan Nature Reserve. For the Gonzagas, the location and atmosphere were perfect. They enlisted the help of Daniel's sister, Isabell, who runs the HelgessonGonzaga architectural firm with her husband. Marie and Daniel had more of a feeling as opposed to a clear idea of what they wanted to build. It was important that the building blended in with its natural surroundings and left as small a footprint as possible. “We described it as similar to a luxury tent that is set up overnight in a fantastic location, making it as easy to get out into nature as opening a zip on the door,” Marie explains.
The end result was an 80 m² timber house with large-format Design sliding doors and fixed lights along the entire west and east sides. This equates to a total of eight modules, each with one fixed and one opening part. This way, the house opens up both figuratively and literally, not only to the nature reserve but also to the sunset in the west and the animal enclosures in the east. The sides facing the neighbouring houses and the street below are made entirely of wood and are completely opaque. The frame consists of glued laminated timber columns standing in mullion bases that are firmly anchored in the rock beneath the house. The columns, the continuous glass surfaces and the tarred wooden façade give the building a floating, almost camouflaged appearance. It therefore looks like it has been placed right in the middle of nature.
The couple spend a lot of time at Villa Tjurpannan and make the two-and-a-half hour journey from their home in Skövde whenever possible. Nevertheless, they do not want to be restricted by the house: “It was never supposed to stop us from taking other types of holidays in the summer. We just rent out the house, which is also going very well so far, by the way,” says Marie. Many of the tenants are architects or people that have an interest in design. They often hear words of gratitude for renting out their house so that even more people can enjoy this living experience, the couple explains. The house has also attracted considerable attention outside Sweden, where it has been described as a “portal to nature”.
