How SketchUp was used when creating Kvartshuset from Grand Designs 2022
Andreas Lebisch explains how he used SketchUp to create Kvartshuset which was featured in the TV-show Grand Designs Sweden in 2022.
Kvartshuset lies outside the municipality’s zoning plan, thereby giving the architect almost complete freedom in designing their holiday home. Of course, there are restrictions and plenty of character in the local area that the design for the new building should relate to. Andreas, his wife Anna (a landscape architect) and their two children spent a couple of summers camping on the site before building their holiday home. The idea was to feel the landscape, the "lay of the land", before going ahead and proposing a structure. "We agreed that when building a new house it should be done with as little impact on outdoor life as possible. The site should ideally have a richer and more complex ecosystem after the build."
Andreas and Anna combined their experiences in landscape and architecture, and used SketchUp as an universal design tool. Especially while working on challenging sites with an ambition for spatial cohesion, it is important to have a three-dimensional program that is flexible and can build up complexity over time.
"I appreciate SketchUp with its light approach. To be able to test various ideas quickly without being held back by a too demanding design program was key to developing the spatial qualities of Kvartshuset", says Andreas.
The property is located southwest of Skäret at a distance of about 1000 meters from the Skäldervik coast in the north. The area is characterized by a varied, small-scale agricultural landscape with meadow and pasture surrounded by smaller forest areas, groves, arable islands and vegetation clusters. The houses in the area are characterized by holiday homes on the north coast and a mixture of single farm and detached houses, south of the coastal road. The closest town is Arild, an old idyllic fishing village on the coast of Kullaberg. Adjacent to the properties is Sankt Arild’s golf course in the west, a historical small school in the north, forest and arable landscape in the west and a detached house on a neighboring property in the south.
The property lies on a gentle southern slope where the land is at most 36 meters above sea level, down to just over 33 meters above sea level in the southwest corner. The existing vegetation on the properties consists of a rich mixture of deciduous trees (beech, oak, birch, Swedish Whitebeam, rowan, hazel and cherry) and planted spruce forest. In the autumn of 2017, the property owners decided to cut down all the planted spruces. The ground is covered with vegetation such as shrubs, blackberries and meadow grass. The property is defined by small height differences with some occasional places where bedrock and larger stones are visible through the soil layer.
The concept of Kvartshuset follows the natural relationship of the house to its surrounding and the local landscape. Kullaberg is characterized by peaks and cliffs that plunge steeply into the sea. Mountains and forests alternate with open meadows and fields as well as remnants of heather and fallow land. The coastline is varied with its bays, headlands, gorges, tunnels and skerries.
The shape of the house is inspired by the cliffs and rocks that dominate the surrounding landscape with its dramatic terrain meeting the sea. The lines of the landscape are translated and aligned into a faceted shape. The resulting crystalline shape is reinforced with a very reduced material palette. The sides of the building are characterized by an alternation of fully closed and glazed, open faces. The entire exterior of the house basically consists of two materials: untreated spruce wood and glazed surfaces.
The site’s terrain, mountains and open rocks provide the background and conditions that the house meets with its multifaceted shape. The location of the house is chosen based on the plot’s most central and highest point. The house’s own staircase is seen as a continuation of the natural terrain.
The interior has four main levels: entrance level (+35,16) intermediate level (+36,06) upper floor level (+37,68) and the loft (+40,20). The main entrance faces west with a direct connection to the gravelled parking lot and the golf course in the distance. Apart from the location at the entrance and the terrace adjacent to the living room, the existing ground levels on the plot do not change significantly around the house.
The six-sided layout with a building area of 71 sqm is built around a sequence of living spaces. The ground floor contains a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, such as a hall and dining area. Five steps up and you reach the living room which is adapted in its height to the higher level of the rocks adjacent of the house. A glazed sliding door leads out from the living room to a 36 sqm terrace of decking. From the living room, seven more steps lead up to the upper floor containing the three bedrooms.
The foundation of the house is built as a ground slab. and laid directly on bedrock. The concrete of the cast slab is sanded and used as floor material on the ground floor. The house’s structure and frame are planned in their entirety in solid wood. The roof, exterior walls, floors and load-bearing interior walls are composed of prefabricated cross-laminated timber elements (CLT).
The prefabricated timber elements are manufactured at the factory with the right size, angles and connections that enable an efficient and fast construction like a construction kit. The roof and exterior walls are also proposed to consist of a clean CLT structure. By doubling the usual CLT wall in thickness, the need to insulate or seal the shell further is also eliminated. As a facade material, vertical wood panels are chosen on both facades and falors on the roof. The result is a modern version of a log house.
He was born and studied in Vienna, Austria where he gained his first experiences in practice. If you didn’t already know, Austrian architects (as in large parts of Europe) are not afraid to draw through the entire house and also keep construction site follow-up and the financial responsibility for the entire construction project. The whole thing, from planning to construction, thus ends up with the architect.
In 2000 he moved to London to work at Alsop Architects and Studio Egret West for ten years. The artistic and large-scale approach was among the great experiences he gathered during his time in England.
In 2010 he moved with his family to Stockholm and currently works at the architecture firm Warm in the Winter which is driven by high ambitions based on Agenda 2030.
Early in his construction career, he became interested in wooden constructions and the advantages of this fantastic material. He thinks it is important to challenge building conventions, especially in connection with the major social and environmental challenges we are facing. Being responsible for the finances of a project also means not wasting resources. An important lesson when it comes to sustainable construction. Every single building part must be counted and it is important to find sustainable solutions that last a long time with as low emissions as possible.
