A house in Värmdö, Sweden, is designed to make the most of its location. Street Monkey Architects' Pulkabacken (or "toboggan hill") House has a large, grass-covered ground-to-roof slope that provides privacy and can be used for sledding in the snow. It also leads up to a rooftop party deck.
The house is built on the side of a steep slope and the use of a ramp camouflages that side of it from neighbors and from the nearby road. It is effectively an extension of the house's garden and provides more space for children to play, as well as providing easy access to the a rooftop terrace with views of the sea.
The 200 sq m (2,152 sq ft) house was built using prefabricated steel and concrete modules, which were constructed in a factory in spring 2014 before being put together on-site over the course of two days in the summer. Cage Copher, principal architect at Street Monkey, explains to Gizmag that the steel modules were unusual in that they were delivered complete with floor-to-ceiling glass partitions, the ramping roof and corner windows without columns.
Inside, the floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of the sea. The entrance level accommodates a master bedroom, two bathrooms, a kitchen with a study bar, the living and dining area, a large balcony and a reading niche built into the stairs. On the lower level of the house there are three additional bedrooms, a family room, a bathroom an outdoor terrace that leads to the lower garden.
The Pulkabacken House is built on passive house principles, with heavy insulation, a high level of air-tightness and a high-efficiency heat exchanger to maximize energy efficiency.
It was completed around November and December last year.
Source: Street Monkey Architects