Mer Architects designed a single family house to virtually connect to the historical villas built between 1879 and 1939 in Hanko, a small village on the southern cost of Finland. Those were the year where a famous spa operated in the city, attracting many celebrity guests.
Gamla Villan
Inspired by the historical villas in Hanko, Finland, Mer Architects designed a single family house that looks at old times of glory and plays with a contemporary origami pitched roof.
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- 23 December 2016
- Hanko
Most of the old villas have been preserved with their grand towers, verandas, balconies, maintaining their atmosphere intact. The Gamla Villan is a contemporary suggestion that sits on a quiet and sheltered meadow. Oak and apple trees combine with a view across the meadow to the sea. The cold storage and guest room area were integrated into the main space, while the height of the house was emphasized, giving the possibilities to play with the loft space.
The entrance facade to the street features systematic narrow windows, with a pitched roof that is turned over the main living space – like an origami – to face the garden and the sea. The high landscape window creates an illusion of a space bigger than its area. The passage from the living room to the terrace is made gradually through the loggia in front of a glass wall.
Gamla Villan, Hanko, Finland
Program: single family house
Architects: Mer Architects, Paula Leiwo
Structural engineering: Anders Westerlund
Carpentry: Ossi Eronen
Area: 100 + 20 sqm
Completion: 2016