A home between the sky and the fjord

When Todd Saunders started to plan the project, he was faced with an apparent contradiction: how can you design a house to be present but not imposing? A place of tranquillity that also acts as a window to the world? His solution was a building that blends in with the landscape, not the other way around. The result is Villa Austevoll – a retreat located on the Norwegian island of Selbjørn.

The main structure of the building is formed in the shape of a cross and sits on a triangular concrete sheet, which is embedded in the slope of a hill. Narrow steel supports bear the weight of the structure and help to simplify building on the uneven terrain. The construction allows the building to partially float, leaving some areas of the ground untouched.

The base of the property houses an entrance hall, utility rooms and an oak-wood spiral staircase, which leads up to the main floor above. This is where the living room, dining room and sleeping areas are located. Large-scale windows on all sides not only unveil expansive views of the land and fjord, but also flood the rooms with natural light. A circular toplight in the centre of the building, achieved with the high-performance Schüco FWS 50 mullion/transom façade, creates a direct line of sight stretching straight up into the sky. The folding design sliding door provides maximum openness, with units that can be moved to the side and folded together to form slim, compact stacks.