Mölle by the Sea by Elding Oscarson // Sweden.

Sweden – top three in my list of places I’d be from if I wasn’t from here. Elding Oscarson – similarly top-ranking in the sort of architects I’d be if I was in that league. So what joy today’s post brings – it’s a house in Sweden by Elding Oscarson!

We’re out on a peninsula jutting westwards into the sound separating Sweden from Denmark (also top three). In the town of Mölle, stands this Y-shaped house for a young family. The architect’s statement explains that the funny shape was hit upon to address views to all corners of the site, not just the ocean views. I’m normally wary of anything that isn’t a right angle, but there are always exceptions.

A glassy ground floor cups three courtyards around its edge, permitting shelter from winds without view loss across the site. Slender pilotis prop up the boxy timber first floor, of a greater height than below, leading to an inversion of expected weight distribution. This gives the exterior a welcome bit of ‘how’d they do it?’ drama, and proportionally I think it works.

I’m also a fan of the seriously meaty timber cladding on the upper floor – none of your prissy 180mm weatherboards here please.

The interiors score points too – a beautifully pale (I hope it’s heated) concrete slab floor downstairs, with that ribbon of glass flooding the space with views of the ocean and the quite-different neighbour’s houses. Upstairs, three bedrooms occupy one point of the Y shape, arranged about a central living space. It’s a nice diagram which allows each room it’s own atmosphere, largely defined by whether it has ocean views, garden views, or both.

We’ll leave it there. I’m off to sniff my Ikea stool so it feels like I’m there.

Ende.

Text by Luke Moloney for Yellowtrace.

See more project by Elding Oscarson on Yellowtrace.

[Project team: Jonas Elding, Johan Oscarson, Yuko Maki & Gustaf Karlsson. Textile by Akane Moriyama. Images courtesy of Elding Oscarson Architects. Photography © Åke E:son Lindman.]