Bakkedragetb
by Sebastian Skovsted in collaboration with Lasc Studio 

This project comprises a cottage and a shed located in Denmark within a protected landscape alongside historic vacation homes, carefully placed in slopes of overgrown moraine and sand dunes that rise from the surrounding flatlands.

The cottage reconstruction’s ambition was to recreate the quality and atmosphere of being in the old structure; one that was left unused with a timber infestation making rebuilding it unavoidable.

Built in 1905 as two detached log houses, later merged by the addition of a kitchen, the cottage was gradually transformed, including architect Ivar Bentsen’s addition of a stove and chimney, and introduction of a new shed.

The structure was rebuilt as a lightweight timber frame construction, allowing the exterior to maintain its expression of the old cottage.

The new interior interprets the memories and accumulated features for contemporary conditions, informed by the modern structure, and expressed through partly painted wooden surfaces, peculiar alcoves and niches.

Wooden walls were left untreated or painted in colours drawn from the former interior.

The exterior walls were internally clad in wide horizontal boards referring to the formerly exposed logs. The walls separating the rooms were clad in thinner vertical boards.

The original disposition of rooms was slightly altered. A tiled grid was laid out in the hallway, kitchen and bathroom, shifting in colour between the spaces. Niches and alcoves are recreated by leaving wooden surfaces unpainted.

Walls separating shared spaces are removed, though the separation they created can still be traced through material changes.

These strategies allow rooms and the overall disposition to be continuous yet self-contained, introducing a density of personal unconventional spaces.

The original cottages’ complexity was reinterpreted as a clearly defined patchwork of shifting materials and colours, visible from one room to the next, creating a contemporary space pragmatically reinterpreting the past.

When the shed was later extended to reach its double length, the original gable was kept as a central partition wall dividing the space in two.

The foundation of this wall is kept as a trace in the new structure, acting as base for the lone pillar carrying the new ridge beam.

The new pinewood structure consists of rafters resting on the ridge beam and the outer wall structure, allowing for one uninterrupted space. Spruce cladding is untreated in the interior, with the ceiling boards painted in a grey-blue shade stemming from the main cottage.

The original roof structure used collar beams, making it impossible to move upright through the shed.

The new shed is based on a thorough survey of the old, with a few adjustments.

Author Sebastian Skovsted in collaboration with Lasc Studio 
Location Denmark
Year 2018
Consultants Ingeniørgruppen Vestjylland (Engineer)
Photography Laura Stamer
FPA Francesca Pasquali Archive Villa Bloch Le Pré aux Pierres Triplex Ampere First House Reforma de 8 pisos en Ciutat Vella Final Outcome Shop and co-working space

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