VILLA ANDERSSON is situated in Frösakull, Halmstad, looking out over the sea of Kattegatt. The villa displays a great architectonic quality while simultaneously preserving the site specific properties such as the view of the sea and forest, the configuration of its facades, the chromatic richness and contours of the surroundings whilst respecting the integrity of the local zoning plan.
Project Name: Villa Andersson
Studio Name: Abelardo Gonzalez Arkitektbyrå AB
Client: Mikael Andersson
Architect: Abelardo Gonzalez, Abelardo Gonzalez Arkitektbyrå AB, Malmö
FRÖSAKULL, HALMSTAD, SWEDEN 2021
Area: 740 m2
photography credits: AGAB (Abelardo Gonzalez Arkitektbyrå AB)
The goal was to make use of the site’s specific prerequisites to achieve a complete harmony between nature and the building. This harmonic unity is created through the relationship and interplay between the site, form and materiality. The result is a unique house where the choice of material connects the villa to the landscape whilst ageing gracefully.
Space influences us and we influence space within the infinite spatial possibilities in architecture.
I am constantly searching for spatial quality related to the possibilities of use that differ from the standard typology. Having a background as a stage designer I am used to experimenting with space and light. This spatial typology is more rooted in our new way of living, our new social habits and the need to connect and expand the use of our home in relation to a spatial environmental idea. In all my projects I search for spaces that inspire, tracking down architectural expressions that enrich the concept.
Inspired by a type of ventilation chimneys used in the houses of Hyderabad, Pakistan, I discovered that they can be transformed into “voids”, becoming a light source and a spatial expression as well. It opened up the possibility of new defined and connected spaces. The addition of “voids” has resulted in a spatial complexity in the family house as well as the architectural expression. It might challenge the viewer at first glance, but later we get emotionally involved with the spatial richness of the volume and the richness of the interior.(look section below)
The house is designed to have “lungs”. These “lungs” are a combination of large voids and skylights that together create a passive ventilation method while providing an abundance of natural light.
The skylights are facing north and south to maximize the effect and the influx of natural light.
Due to regulations, the project is also equipped with an active ventilation system that can ensure a pleasant indoor climate in case of extreme weather conditions or during harsh winters.
The house consists of two architectonic bodies, a rectangular concrete core and a protective shell folding over itself. The shell, which is made of a metal construction and cladded in wooden panels, fuses with the concrete core creating a building envelope that blurs the lines of the traditional architectural elements. The primary load is taken care of by a composition of wall- and beam system while protective shell cares for the secondary loads.
The concrete core carries the first floor which creates a feeling of a floating slab. This is reinforced by the open plan at the ground floor and by the floor-to-ceiling windows running along the façade.
The shell’s metal structure is clad on the outside with “Shou Sugi Ban”-processed and carbonized Accoya panels 25 x 600 mm (zwarthout_shousugiband). This process ensures that the wood is protected from rain, rot and pests, whereas the inside paneling is performed in oak, 22 x 120 mm. The remaining walls and soffit are performed in concrete. The surrounding terraces and gardens consist of different levels following the existing landscape.
VILLA ANDERSSON is conceived through a layered composition of a folded skin wrapping around spaces, using the environmental opportunities that motivate and reinforce spatial qualities. The house has a soul of concrete, covered with a roof of Accoya wood treated with the Japanese technique of “Shou-Sugi-Ban”, burnt and curated. This wrapping of space creates a complex and protective shell-structure that enclose and enhance the space composition and the interior experience.
Abelardo Gonzalez Architecture
Abelardo Gonzalez Architecture Office was founded in 1980 by Abelardo Gonzalez, architect member in the Swedish Association of Swedish Architects (SAR) and in the Swedish Association of Interiors Designers (SIR).
Abelardo Gonzalez Architecture Office is characterized by a contemporary approach to architecture and design. The studio’s intentions have always been to anchor projects in the current society and through this generate an architecture that can function in symbiosis with the people and the surroundings. Abelardo Gonzalez have the possibility to profit by architecture in such a way where urban space has the same priority as the configuration of single houses, as well as the development of settlements and urban areas. Abelardo Gonzalez have an obsession for building, as does all the employees in the office, staying long days surveying the exact realization of working drawings, the exact choice of materials, the exact colors and the finishing of every surface. Abelardo Gonzalez Architecture Office have a multifaceted creative profile within interior design, furniture design and the entire concept of a building.
The studio’s strength as a little, independent office is the wide network built up from the beginning. With a strong defined working manner as a start point, they have tided the office with different competitive areas to the office and by that way the studio has generated a comprehensive working process.
Abelardo Gonzalez Architecture Office has received several international awards such as the first award for Architectural Review celebration for the project “Hotel Tunneln”; Honourable Mention at “The 9th International Biennale of Interior Design Creativity” and the second award at Tarketts 50 year Anniversary in Stockholm. By a series of well-performed works has the Office gather the attention of well-known architecture and interior design magazines like Designers Journal (London), W.I.N.D. (Tokyo), Casa Vogue (Milan) and Living Architecture (Copenhagen).
Abelardo Gonzalez Architecture Office momentum has always been to generate a comprehensive and qualitative architecture solution, where detail working gives the same priority as material choice and construction solutions. In that way the office does not only satisfy customer specific wishes but assume the responsibility for its work through a wide and long-term perspective.
