Spröjs House / Visiondivision

Jan 2011

By Karen Cilento — Filed under: Residential , Sweden, visiondivision

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Check out Visiondivision’s latest work – a residential extension to an old Swedish house. Expanding upon the clients’ taste in the traditional Swedish houses with mullion windows, or ‘spröjs’ in Swedish, the team set out to exploit the building component by introducing ”a huge mullion window as its main feature.” The mullion window becomes the focal point of the house as it covers the front facade and opens toward the garden that slopes toward the nearby lake.

More images and more about the residence after the break.

Mullion Inside © Visiondivision

Typical of Visiondivision’s strategies, the mullion design becomes an aesthetic expression as well an a functioning entity. For instance, the firm extruded the mullion inward to become different types of shelves. ”The shelves where then designed for different functions for a relaxed and life cherishing atmosphere; a work space, a space to hangout and enjoy a coffee or breakfast, and a lot of storage places for books, DVDs and such,” explained the team.

Coffee Room © Visiondivision

The landscape helps divide the house into different levels with the upper level becoming more leisure oriented with a master bedroom and a coffee/breakfast shelf in the mullion. On the thin middle level, the house holds a wardrobe that can be reached from the upper and lower level and a fire place with storage for timber in the mullion. The lower level is more work related with a room for clothing care and a small home office in the mullion.

House Section © Visiondivision

The house is connected to the chief house via a glass corridor with a small stair that leads up to the main buildings dining room. The glass corridor also serves as the entrance to the two outdoor areas; one toward the lake for the sunrise and one toward the back of the building for Swedish midsummer sunset.

: Sections © Visiondivision

: Exterior View © Visiondivision

: Mullion Inside © Visiondivision

: Mullion Inside © Visiondivision

: Home Office © Visiondivision

: Coffee Room © Visiondivision

: Rear View © Visiondivision

: Gutter © Visiondivision

: Existing House and Extension © Visiondivision

: Mullion Outside © Visiondivision

: Wardrobe © Visiondivision

: Rear View © Visiondivision

: Side View © Visiondivision

: House at Dusk © Visiondivision

: Mullion from Outside © Visiondivision

: View from Stair © Visiondivision

: Clothing Care Room © Visiondivision

: Plan © Visiondivision

: House Section © Visiondivision

: House Section © Visiondivision

: Mullion Detail © Visiondivision

: Facades © Visiondivision

Architects: Visiondivision

Partners in Charge: Anders Berensson & Ulf Mejergren

Client: Private

Contractor: JW Byggteknik

Location: Edsbro, Sweden

Project area: 30 sq. m

Project year 2009-2011Photographs: Clive Jenkins

Visiondivision was commissioned to design an extension to an old house on the Swedish countryside. The house should include a master bedroom, a room for clothing care, a work space and a space for coffee and breakfast.
The clients told us that they like typical old Swedish red houses with mullion windows (spröjs in Swedish) but where ok to build a house without mullions since they knew that modern architects don’t like that type of houses. But an ok house for the client is simply not good enough for visiondivision so we started to design a house with a huge mullion window as its main feature.

The mullion window covers the front facade of the house facing the garden that slopes towards the nearby lake.
Since the mullion covers the best views from the house we started to add some extra functions to it by extruding the mullion towards the inside making different types of shelves.
The shelves where then designed for different functions for a relaxed and life cherishing atmosphere; a work space, a space to hangout and enjoy a coffee or breakfast, and a lot of storage places for books, DVDs and such.
In the original sketch a bathtub and a fireplace where also part of the mullion window but had to be relocated according to the client’s wish.

Due to the landscape the house is divided into three levels. One upper level that is more leisure oriented with a master bedroom and a coffee/breakfast shelf in the mullion. Then follows a thin middle level that has a battery of functions, including a wardrobe that can be reached from the upper and lower level and a fire place with storage for timber in the mullion, and finally a lower level that is more work related with a room for clothing care and a small home office in the mullion.

The house is connected to the chief house via a glass corridor with a small stair that leads up to the main buildings dining room. Since the new house is heated with floor heating we designed the railing with the floor heating going through them for a comfortable welcoming to the new house. The glass corridor also serves as the entrance to the two outdoor areas; one towards the lake for the sunrise and one towards the back of the building for Swedish midsummer sunset.

Architects: Visiondivision
Partners in Charge: Anders Berensson & Ulf Mejergren
Client: Private

Contractor: JW Byggteknik
Location: Edsbro, Sweden
Project area: 30 sq. m
Project year 2009-2011
Photographs: Clive Jenkins

Cite:
Cilento , Karen . "Spröjs House / Visiondivision" 29 Jan 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 21 May 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/107726>