Toneheim student houses | asas arkitektur

The project contains new student housing at Toneheim Folkehøgskole, meant to replace the existing housing. The student housing is organized around a common yard, a Norwegian traditional typology called “tun”. The new structure is vernacular and exiting, and deeply rooted in the site and history. The new tun is a place where students, teachers and others thrive, both inside and outside. A place where traditions meets modern architecture with a personal expression – con anima!

The idea behind the structure is one simple building block, that is repeated and varied according to the placement on the site and the orientation. Through this principle, the terrain is left mostly as it is, and every building block is given an accessible entrance. Each building block consists of five 2-person bedrooms, a common room with a kitchen and lounge and bathroom facilities. The common rooms and the entrance zones are all oriented towards the common yard. Every student will pass the common room on the way in or out of the house, which ensures good contact between the students. The 2-person rooms put restrictions on how much private space there is, and makes the students interact and tolerate each other.

The plan is compact, which makes the buildings efficient regarding space, energy and economy. The bedrooms have a flexible plan and can be furnished in different ways. They can also be used by students in a wheel chair. The storage space in the bed rooms are maximized, with storage space both underneath the bed and in the wall niche above each bed.

The stair is integrated in the common room and creates smaller space in the room; a more private place in the open common room. In these small, intimate room the students can read or call their parents. The spaces that the stairs create, establishes connections between private and social spaces, and connections between the inside and the outside. The stair tower is also an important internal and external element regarding the shape of the house, as well as an important element regarding the environment. Sky lights in the stairwell contributes with a generous shower of daylight along the walls.