Villa Aarhus | FRIIS & MOLTKE

This functional villa, situated near the city of Aarhus, is built on an undulating plot at the fringe of the forest. The spot is remarkable for the beauty of its scenery, but it also poses a challenge for the architect. The answer to this challenge is a “folded disc”- design which allows you to enter the front of the house at one level, but to access the garden from the house at two levels. The house itself gives off a dynamic feeling of interaction with the plot and the landscape. To achieve this effect, the horizontal lines are complemented by a slanting roof and together they frame a pleasantly private space with respect for the surrounding nature. The dominating element of the design – and the principal architectural feature of the interior of the house – is a 14.5 meters long wall, planked with oiled oak veneer. The wall is a decorative element providing warmth and texture to the house as well as a functional basis for the kitchen inventory, a cozy niche and the living room library. The oak wall creates a unique and meditative atmosphere with clear reference to the Scandinavian nature and tradition and also reveals a trace of inspiration from Japanese culture. All floors are coated with polished concrete and the “raw” style is seen through all the way to the ceiling for which is chosen perforated acoustic plaster. Great panorama windows, spanning from floor to ceiling, invite in light and nature and create an experience of fluid transition between the inside and the outside. In the back of the living room, a special window seems to have been “cut out” of the thick outer wall to the effect of making the natural scenery outside look almost like a painting. The two children´s rooms at the bottom level have windows to the garden while the master bedroom offers a secluded retreat towards the back of the house. A characteristic of the house is the conjugation of different materials: Stone and concrete contribute to the raw and textured qualities of the house while the oak wall brings warmth and depth and the plaster functions as a decorative acoustic ceiling.