1000m above sea level in Kvitfjell, Norway, Twisted Cabin is a 360m2 holiday home designed by Einar Jarmund, Hakon Vigsnaes, Alessandra Kosberg, Claes Cho Heske Ekornaas of JVA Architects. Close to ski slopes, the cabin was designed for large family holidays. Because of the multi-level terrain, the home has seven different split floor levels with the master suite on one end, the social zone in the center and additional bedrooms on the other end.
The exterior of the home, including all the walls and the roof, are clad in larch wood while the entire interior is covered in oak.
The back of the home is on the high side of the terrain and opens up to a morning terrace.
The terrain takes a steep decline from the back to the front of the cabin and a ramp along the front of the home leads up to the main terrace off of the social zone.
The other side of the cabin has a flight of stairs cut into the embankment to connect the front and back yards.
The main entrance is tucked under an overhang within a void in the structure’s footprint.
Additional operable glazings connect the indoor and outdoor zones – weather permitting.
During the warmer months the morning terrace out back is a comfortable outdoor place to relax and enjoy the morning sun – thanks to the architects’ choice to level the land and pave it with flagstones.
Just past the morning terrace, the land continues to slope steeply upward.
Even though the morning terrace is not on the view side of the home, floor to ceiling glazings on both sides of the structure allow the panoramic mountain view to flood through the home and out back.
Just inside from the morning terrace is a seating area for enjoying the views when the weather isn’t cooperative. Both this seating area and the kitchen are a few steps up from the dining and living area.
The dining room boasts an incredible living edge wood slab for its tabletop that blends harmoniously with the oak wood used on the interior’s floors, posts and beams – as well as ceilings. In contrast to all this warm wood is the flagstone floor – in the dining and living area, the kitchen island and the fireplace wall. All feature cooler, steely grey shades.
The master suite is positioned on the far side of the volume in a private zone that angles away from the more social parts of the building, tapering in the process. This means the headboard wall is far narrower then the entrance to the room.
The other side of Twisted Cabin features multiple sleeping areas, some bunk style with access via tapered steep ladder-like steps. This side of the home also features a mid-level second kitchen.
This kitchen is laid out galley style and can be viewed from the mezzanine above. At the same time, those in the kitchen can view the common area on the level one flight down.
With all the ceilings, walls and floors clad in oak, the woodsy cabin aesthetic offers a sense of intimacy more often associated with smaller homes.
Jarmund / Vigsnaes Architects
Photos: Nils Petter Dale
