my design fix

Suurupi House Extension – Arhitektid Muru & Pere

The Suurupi House Extension, located in Estonia is designed by Arhitektid Muru & Pere.

Initially designed and built in 1998/99, the one-storey house was a simple wooden ‘”matchbox” to cater for the needs of a young family with children. As the family grew and the children got older various additions were made culminating in the latest addition of a second floor in 2008/09.

‘The modest “matchbox” has been made bigger in time, the drawer was stretched out further and further until it came out of the box and could be placed, crosswise, on top as a first floor and could be covered with tangled matches.

That is how the first floor looks: a box covered with crisscrossed sticks which resembles an angular bird’s nest, a ball of hay that is pressed together, a tangle of boards, all of which glows in the dark.’ – Arhitektid Muru & Pere

I personally wonder how this timber skin will age. Will it age gracefully as the timber weathers? Or will it require a lot of maintenance and need to be replaced after a number of years? Either way it looks really cool.

via archdaily

Photography: Tarvo Varres

The external timber skin has an amazing night time quality: (above and below)