Visiondivision‘s latest project, a residential extension for two children in Stockholm, utilizes a landscape surface that is enhanced by elements around and inside the house. The young children will be spending most of their day enjoying the outdoors, so Visiondivision “wanted to give the two new citizens a safe base where they can explore their new surroundings and be able to appreciate it to the fullest.” By deliberately choosing inexpensive building components, such as windows and façade materials, the architects saved a bigger part of the budget to create as many playful elements as they could.
More about the Hill House after the break.
The landscape becomes not only a series of hills and valleys for play, but a series of much more intricate spaces that include an outdoor cinema and a sledge slope. A carpet of artificial grass blankets the artificially made hill to blend in with the natural grass. This carpet continues out onto the terrace as well as down the hallway between the children’s rooms, as an attempt to unite the exterior with the interior environment.
A custom made grass sofa, and a couple of grassy knolls that also function as lighting make the interior “more organic and enhance the nature experience even further”. These artificial hills can be moved around and can be put outside, as well.
The excavations that provided the necessary dirt for the hills left a large void under the house which Visiondivision turned into “two secret caves”. Made from concrete with in-cast IKEA drinking glass as small lanterns, the caves leads to a different grassy places for play.
The house itself is clad is white corrugated metal sheeting which looks like wood from a distance, since wood is the predominant material in this region. Yet, as one gets closer to the home, the cladding is “more alive and reflecting…and gets nice shadow effects from the surrounding trees. Choosing metal sheets also allowed us to have the walls and the roof in the same material which creates a very consistent building.”
All images from Visiondivision
Architects: visiondivision
Location: Stockholm
Design team: Anders Berensson & Ulf Mejergren
Construction year: 2009
Project area: 55m2
Photographs: Clive Jenkins
