Denmark and Iceland-based architecture studio KRADS has designed a holiday home that features an inclined green roof overlooking towards the great lake Thingvallavatn in Selfoss, Iceland.

Situated on a densely overgrown hill, the house, named Holiday home by Þingvallavatn, frames a beautiful view towards the lake and the house almost disappears among the lush hillside. 

Covering a total of 170 square meters, the hillside is sloping north in the direction of the great Lake Þingvallavatn in southwestern Iceland, as the studio explained, and this created an opportunity to shape this private residence blended into its surrounding landscape. 

The studio said that "on multiple levels, the otherworldly landscape has modelled the form of the building."

"An essential part of a good building is a good client, they say. This general principle felt particularly present in the process surrounding Tina Dickow’s and Helgi Jónsson’s holiday home," said KRADS in its project description. 

"As performing artists, they showed an unusual understanding around the creative process, and all the aspects it involves. This led to a journey that was characterised by an enthusiastic exchange of thoughts and ideas which were anchored in a common understanding of materiality and general expression." 

"This created an atmosphere of mutual trust and openness between the architect and the client that one rarely experiences. We hope this is feeling is conveyed in the finished house."

The house is in dialogue with the terrain, thanks to the concrete foundation of the wooden house, the house lies in three staggered planes that follow the movement of the landscape. 

On the other hand, the roof surface acts like it is emerging from the ground with local grass and moss, slopes partly towards and partly with the hill. 

"The location of the house has been chosen with great care to integrate the building into the surroundings while framing specially selected views of the landscape," added the studio. 

"Towards North, the house rises above the low scrub to give an unobstructed view over Þingvallavatn and the mountain Skjaldbreið from the main room of the house." 

In the opposite direction, the studio placed the main room which is opened onto a south-west-facing terrace that is closely surrounded by trees. 

From this room, the mountains Jórutindur and Hátindur can be seen at the same time as a view is established from the terrace, through the house, and out towards the lake. 

As the architects described, apart from the terrace, the immediate surroundings of the building are so densely vegetated that they are close to impenetrable. 

The studio wanted to preserve the landscape as pristine as possible - which was a major intention in both the design process and during the construction of the house. 

In return, the studio designed a greened roof and they wanted it to be an accessible outdoor area. While the access to the roof can be reached from inside, it can also be accessed from the house's sleep-and play loft, or from the outside where the slope starts at the foot of the integrated boat shed. 

Following the ascend, standing at the top of the roof's edge above the trees, the landscape opens up in a magnificent and ever-changing panorama towards the lake and the surrounding mountains. 

Roof plan

Floor plan

Loft floor plan

Section

Section

Section

Based in Denmark and Iceland, KRADS is led by architects Kristján Eggertsson and Kristján Örn Kjartansson. The studio designs various types of projects based on the Nordic culture of architecture and design.

Project facts

Project name: Holiday home by Þingvallavatn

Architects: KRADS 

Client: Tina Dickow and Helgi Hrafn Jónsson 

Location: Selfoss, Iceland.

Size: 170m2 

Engineer: Emil Þór Guðmundsson 

Entrepreneur: Smíðandi ehf. / Guest Þráinsson 

Interior carpentry and exterior detailing: Helgi Hrafn Jónsson, Jón Árni Þórisson, Christian Danielsen

Date: 2020 

All images © Marino Thorlacius

All drawings © KRADS

> via KRADS