Summerhouse in Jørlunde / Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter

Architect: Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter  Aps
Location: Denmark
Project Year: 2004
Engineer: Moe & Brødsgaard A/S
Area: 200 sqm
Photographs: Torben Eskerod

Sitting in the midst of an expanding landscape, the summerhouse is an open-plan dwelling allowing the inhabitants and its visitors to experience a continual interior/exterior natural environment.

Raised above the ground by concrete pillars, the house extends over the sloping terrain with interior spaces and terraces filtered from the outer landscape by movable fabric screens stretching along the perimeter. The free composition allows the house to open-up as well as close itself yet always maintain a sense of tranquility and connection to nature.

When open, the large windows and sliding doors let the house dissolve into the landscape. When closed, inner terraces bring continual daylight into the house and allow the inhabitants to enjoy the outside in their own privacy.