rever & drage architects designs '1/3 house' in norway to be expanded over time

rever & drage architects has designed a detached house for a young couple in sunndal, norway who wanted a small, affordable home. as the couple envisioned that their family would grow, they therefore wanted a building that could be expanded over time. the man wanted a romantic and cozy building, while his wife, a deer hunter, wanted a practical building with space for guns and other hunting equipment.

all images by tom auger

rever & drage’s design — named ‘1/3 house’ — comprises an insulated two-storey building with a footprint of 50 square meters, and an uninsulated utility space that is about double in size. the latter area of the scheme, which has the potential for expansion, currently functions as a storage room, garage, workshop, banquet hall, and a space for butchering deer. the windows in the insulated section are organized in a traditional way, while the hall/veranda has a more industrial and temporary appearance.

‘the simple economic concept is that the owners have now built the part that they could afford, while the rest has untapped potential for what life might bring,’ say the architects. ‘by completely extending the roof at the beginning of the project, they significantly reduce the work for adding space when needed, and they have the area under the roof as a resource in the meantime.’

the insulated part of the project is organized around a warm core on both floors. on the ground floor the entrance, kitchen and living room encircle the laundry room, while on the second floor the storage space, bedroom, second living room and TV room are arranged around the bathroom. the front door faces the courtyard, while the back entrance is from the hall/veranda via the laundry room.

the roof over the utility space is supported by tilted glulam columns, which have been built into the wall panels. ‘under this roof you get an indoor/outdoor feeling – the space is both open and closed at the same time,’ explains rever & drage. ‘due to its expressive form, you also get dramatic framing of views in different directions. the utility space has a scale somewhere between housing and industrial, and the experience alternates between large and small.’

‘because of the simplistic design, the building appears a little abstract,’ the design team continues. ‘the similarity between concept model and the finished building is striking. from the driveway, the building is dominated by the insulated part while the utility space disappears behind. seen from the sides, the relationship between the two is fairly balanced — one is big and light while the other is small and heavy.’

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project info:

name: 1/3 house
architects: rever & drage architects
design team: tom auger, martin beverfjord, eirik lilledrange
built by: brødrene gjershaug AS
complete: 2019
location: øksendal, norway
area: 100 sqm (insulated)
photography: tom auger