architecture 4 us

This unique house is located in Hjuvik just outside Göteborg. This is a renovation project for an old house, done by UNIT Arkitektur AB. The area is about 270 sq m (including the basement). Some changes are done, switching some unused rooms, providing better view.

The house area is a pure residential area which has been thoroughly developed over the past 20 years with a great density of houses as a result. It has also led to the paradox that although all inhabitants have moved there for a view of the sea, no sea is visible from their own property as the nearby neighbor’s house is obstructing the view. This, combined with current Swedish building regulation which states that a kitchen, living room, bathroom and a bedroom must be accessible for a disabled person, leads to the tragic fact that despite the proximity to the sea, most people do not see it from the spaces where they spend most of their waking time – the kitchen and living room. With this conditions, some features are added for the upper level of this house. Large windows are attached to provide better view. There is also a large balcony with a pragmatic steel construction and cheap railing compensates for
the lack of outdoor space in connection to the living room.

To make the house larger, the outer form follows the logic of the shoebox and the layout is as straightforward as possible.

Since the ground floor in this case had a dark and cramped position it was desirable to switch the floors. Bedrooms are moved down, living room and kitchen are moved up. It was possible to prepare for a lifting plate outside of the building, if the house is to be adjusted for a disabled person in the future.

The materials used for this project also become consideration. The materials of the facade reflects the different activities inside the house. The ground floor houses mainly bedrooms, private dwelling and non-representative parts, the facades on this floor are clad with the most swedish of facades – the sawn spruce panelling, painted with a mixture of equal parts turpentine, linseed oil and tar – the traditional west coast protective treatment for their wooden landings. The upper floor is the representative part of the house clad with a flawless and proper facade material – 5 mm translucent white acrylic plastic or PMMA – polymethylmethacrylate (I think this is the reason why the house is called plastic house). The material is UV-stable, making it suitable for outdoor applications.

Two factors are important to consider when designing with PMMA. The first is the extreme length extension of this material; in a design temperature range of 100°C it is estimated to 7 millimeters of expansion per meter. This means that when you can not allow continuous motion you are limited to relatively small sheeting formats. Secondly the plastic is electrostatic and therefore can attract particles and grow dirty.

Sustainable features are also used in this house, such as geothermal heat pump.

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