In the town of Hemavan in the northernmost province of Sweden, Hesselbrand have been commissioned to create a masterplan with a number of apartment buildings for a new ski resort - a project that marks a new era for the remote town known for some of the best skiing in Scandinavia. The buildings are carried by large structural timber columns which are designed to form spaces both on the exterior and interior. The aim is to achieve a modern building with the feeling of a massive timber construction, where the boundary is blurred between the inside and outside spaces of the building…
In the town of Hemavan in the northernmost province of Sweden, Hesselbrand have been commissioned to create a masterplan with a number of apartment buildings for a new ski resort - a project that marks a new era for the remote town known for some of the best skiing in Scandinavia. The buildings are carried by large structural timber columns which are designed to form spaces both on the exterior and interior. The aim is to achieve a modern building with the feeling of a massive timber construction, where the boundary is blurred between the inside and outside spaces of the building.
The first phase of the project consists of three four-storey apartment buildings located at the foot of the mountain, overlooking the vast surrounding landscape. Reminiscent of European alpine hotels of the 19th century, the simple volumes are set closely together forming a direct relationship to the landscape. Public spaces and footpaths surround the project, whilst small sloping gardens sit between the buildings. Large, structural timber columns rise from ground all the way to the roof, creating a consistent rhythm and giving the building its expressive identity. Their form gives the façade depth and complexity, blurring the border between inside and outside. This reconciles the relationship between a building’s façade and interior, a quality typical of alpine cabins which has largely been lost in modern construction.
To bring the exterior appearance closer to the internal experience, the columns intersect every apartment, forming an intimate connection to the most expressive elements of the architecture. The exterior cladding wraps around the balconies and extends into the apartments and across its horizontal surfaces. All apartments span the depth of the building, with generous balconies giving views of the surrounding mountains. The plan of the apartments has a diagonal shift which creates a sequence of rectangular spaces that increase in size from the entrance, through the living spaces and towards the balcony. Along the south facing façade, there are two rooms which can be connected or separated. One functions as a living room whilst the other can be used as a secondary social space or a bedroom. This creates a compact but flexible apartment which feels bigger and brighter than expected.
