Rundtjernveien | Studio Et al.

Total refurbishment of a 100 m. apartment in a functionalist apartmentbuilding in the outskirts of Oslo.

The project is about stripping back rather than adding. The floor and wallsare sanded down to the structural layer, to be left exposed. Materials areadded where necessary to create warmth, intimacy and subtly separatingspaces. Massive boards of Douglas fir are added directly on top of thestructural layer as low platforms for the more intimate functions of thehouse.

The apartment building is constructed in concrete with load bearing slabsand shear walls. The plan is essentially an open plan and the apartment isvery narrow, with the potential quality of being connected to both sides ofthe building. The new plan enhances the length and sight lines through thehouse with a generous hall as a connecting space. Light wooden frames withsheets of fibreglass permit daylight to filter into the deep spaces of the plan.

A custom kitchen island cast in concrete with local aggregate mediates thespace between kitchen and living room. A few place-built furniture pieces inpine and stained oak are added to create a warm niche in the kitchen, a placeto tie your shoes, put your towels etc – constructed in the most direct andsimple way possible. The material combination of the house is acomposition of natural materials and surfaces, in the materials’ own colors,coming together as a whole, revealing the structural layers of the existingbuilding. The separation of architectonic elements provides the opportunityto change or replace building parts or adapt the structure to a new purpose,while the main structure remains. Together forming an aesthetic ofsomething unfinished or in constant change.

Photography: Willem Pab