Tydal cottage

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Location: Tydal, Norway

Function: Family cottage

Building period: Summer 2022

Client: Heidi Einarson & Frode Thomassen

The cottage sits just below the tree line overlooking Stuggusjøen lake. It is placed in a steep slope below a small hill, with its elongated shape allowing it to follow the natural contour lines of the terrain and cause a minimum imprint on the views of its neighboring cottages. This also allows the winds to simply blow over the roof, avoiding heavy buildups of snow. The interior floor leveled so that the veranda meets the thick layer of snow that covers the area for eight months of the year. The site is only accessible by foot or snow scooter, across a river and several reindeer paths, which gives just the right degree of isolation for a proper Norwegian mountain cottage experience.

Studio 2x8 received the project from Sami Rintala, who has been our professor at NTNU, and thus had seen us handle design, construction work and complex dynamic situations before. The plans were already sent in and approved, and the foundation pillars were placed, but we soon realized that everything in between was yet to be solved.

While the snow covered the ground, we started the complex design process of landing 7.5 kN/sqm of snow load through a construction type and a plan that satisfied both the projects initial character, the wishes of the residents and the harsh laws of nature.

We got all solutions and arrangements in place just before moving up to the mountain and begin the construction adventure.