Bergen-based design studio Todd Saunders have completed the Hardanger Summer Retreat project. Completed in 2003, the contemporary retreat can be found in Norway.
The project was designed by the designers to be used as a retreat for friends and themselves. The contemporary Norwegian property is a place where they can go to disconnect. The intention was to have minimalist interiors and amount of technology. The technology is supported by natural gas. The designers wanted to use candles as their natural light source. This part of Norway only receives about four hours darkness in the summer months and the time the retreat would be used the most.
According to the architects: “All new architecture has to be at least 100m from the shoreline. We had to apply for special permission to build 80m from the shore. The retreat is approximately 80m above sea level, making for a dramatic relationship to the large fjord in front. On the western side of the site, approximately 30m from the cabin, there are 30m high waterfalls in the Forrest that continues in a dramatic stream. One crosses this stream on the up the cabin over an old stone foot bridge.
“When one sits on the large outdoor floor the views almost are almost hypnotising. The site has a church-like feeling to it, with the darker forest in the back, but with a large open light that is to front. The mountains, clouds, and fjord are constantly changing. These are subtle changes that happen through the run of the day that one can sit and be fascinated with.”
Images courtesy of Todd Saunders.
