B63

This house is located on the edge of a golf course on the waterfront of the Kollafjörður fjord to the north of Reykjavik. With views of Mount Esja to the north and the glacier of Snæfellsjökull to the west, it sits on the end of a residential street projecting out into the bay, surrounded by fairways, bunkers and greens. The public areas of the house normally restricted to and, traditionally, facing the southern sun were switched to the colder northern side, opening up the building to the north and facing the bay. Grand glazed openings also help create a sensation of sitting in the landscape. The house overlooks the black sandy shoreline against the backdrop of the white snowy mountains on the other side of the bay, while still maintaining a sense of being enclosed, warm and secure.

To this end, the interior is kept simplistic in appearance, primarily consisting of white plastered surfaces, played against rough exposed concrete and Iroko timber floorings. Metal sliding partitions open to allow the dining and kitchen space to expand and assimilate the adjacent spaces. The flow of spaces is further enhanced by overlapping views, attained by the layering of frames.

By using basalt as an exterior cladding material, and zinc roof edges. the building seeks to bed itself into the raw windswept landscape and provide an opportunity to appreciate the view of the countryside. Between the city and the distant land-scape, the building stands as a counterpoint between the wild surrounding nature and the closed, man-made, intimate and personal spaces of the house.