Log Cabin

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy

Log Cabin

Kastler / Skjeseth Architects AS MNAL

ARCHITECTS
Kastler/Skjeseth Architects AS MNAL

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Erlend Skjeseth

PHOTOGRAPHS
Max Creasy

AREA
75 m²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Norway

CATEGORY
Residential Architecture, Houses

The addition to a cabin in Nordmarka is an example of how a traditional log cabin can be given a new lease of life with added space and functions without the building's older parts being demolished or the cabin's footprint increasing.

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy
Log Cabin
© Max Creasy

The building is an archetypal Norwegian cabin built with notched logs from right after the war - a classic cabin with classic problems.

The project consists of an extension by "onfill" and renovation of a log cabin in the outback north of Oslo, a secluded private cabin a short bike ride or ski ride from the city on the western edge of the field towards the Tyrifjord.

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy
Log Cabin
© Max Creasy

The cabin is a simple wooden box from 1945 without much insulation or daylight inside.

The project adds a large picture window to the southeast, a new attic floor, and a new bathroom on a built-in porch.

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy
Log Cabin
© Max Creasy

The homeowner wanted more space and the building was practically uninsulated with rot in the logs and dampness in the basement.

In the floor plan, the intervention is quite modest – encasing a porch, introducing a bathroom, and enlarging the window to the south are the biggest changes on the ground level.

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy
Log Cabin
© Max Creasy

To the south are two new windows which offset the façade and mirror the treetops from the landscape in front.

At the same time, a brand new modern roof with an attic floor for bedrooms belongs above the existing loft box, while the typical living room is preserved in the new construction.

The log construction is protected by a new zinc roof with a more spacious roof with a large dormer providing views over the forest.

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy
Log Cabin
© Max Creasy
Log Cabin
© Max Creasy

The parts of the notched log box that could be saved are preserved up to a given height, while all added parts are given new cladding and painted green, which gives it legibility in the façade between the original parts and added parts.

The house's silhouette has changed with a tight element that protects the cabin below, which now appears with a near-classical symmetry in the north elevation.

Log Cabin
© Max Creasy


Log Cabin
Elevations - Existing
Log Cabin
Elevations - Proposed
Log Cabin
Sections
Log Cabin
Plans


Log Cabin
Illustration