Architecture News Plus (ANP) – Architecture and Design Magazine

Sail House

This is a project by Pompom Arkitekter and it is located at Sweden. Project's program: Passive house. There are seven images for Sail House.

: © Peter Guthrie

Project details

Project name: Sail House
Location: Sweden
Program: Passive house
More details: Cost: 225,000 Euros
Client: Ziphouse
Project by: Pompom Arkitekter
Team: Principal Designer: Ejje Brogren
Others: Contractor: Ziphouse

Project images

Designer's statement

This passive house was the continuation of the Ziphouse concept started with the Line, Frame and Square Houses - to change the traditional outlook of low-cost prefabs homes, focusing on modern designs, yet keeping the vital functions of practical family living.

Through formal languages not as closely inter-related as in the three precursors, the foldings which has been created in the other three are still used but more discretely in a new way out of a more obviously monolithic volume.

A white L-shaped tree box with a light sloping roof embraces two adjacent terraces. These terraces are folded out as a continuation of a frame, acting sun shields around two wide window areas, each with one integrated glass door. The gap between the two terraces invites nature to touch the house at a piece of black timber panelling which bisects the otherwise white façade. The one terrace is a continuation of the dining area by the kitchen while the other is continuation of the living room, dividing the outdoor space into different uses.

When first approached, the house appears very discrete – it consisting of a timber terrace, a short white timber-clad façade with a centrated glass door and a floor to roof window next to it, framed by a timber sun shield stretching out over the façade, then running down and backwards again, creating a bench.

While entering the house, one also enters on an axis following a clear sight line ending with a full-height window in the living room at the far end of the house. Following the axis from the entry, there are two bedrooms to the left and a laundry and bathroom to the right, as well as a multi-functional room as part of the corridor which can be used as a library, office or as a space in which to install an integrated double-storey bed for guests. Next, there is a crossway axis cutting through the one starting at the entry. This continues through the kitchen with an installation wall on the one side and, on the other, a bar disk looking out over the big social area with dining area and living room. Counter-balanced on the main axis is the master bedroom and a vista through a glass door at the end of the wall.

In the two social areas, consisting of the dining area and living room, the functions expand outwards on to the terraces, erasing the boundary between the interior and exterior. Between the two parts of the social room, there is a wooden box projecting outwards from the façade with an integrated window, making a niche on the inside to sit or lying in, relaxing or reading a book.

The building utilizes a unique building system which is a refinement of the normal SIP (Structural Insulated Panels) building method. It is 100% damp proof, extremely air-tight, and well insulated making it one of the first prefabs certified according to the Swedish Government’s strict regulations on passive housing. Combined with highly efficient windows and foundations, the house does not require any active heating, even when the temperature drops to -20°C.