Year: 2020
Location: Helgenæs, Denmark
Size: 74m²
Status: Completed
Visualisations: SLETH
Photos: Rasmus Hjortshøj COAST

On Helgenæs lies two identical holiday houses, designed by Friis & Moltke in 1963. They rest quietly on a slope, with green turf-covered roofs blending seamlessly into the landscape. The concrete surfaces are treated with a rawness that makes them appear almost like boulders placed directly in nature, with beach stones in the aggregate emerging visibly. The houses’ minimalist design language gives them a clear and simple expression as a quiet architecture in the open landscape.

SLETH has carefully restored one of the two houses. The intervention has been minimal: the chimney has been moved a single section in order to fit a larger dining table in the living room, and as a result acommodate a more contemporary use of the holiday house. The complete house has been renewed with respect for the inherent strength of the materials and the simplicity of the architecture.

The result is a holiday house that retains the same tactility and calm as when it was first built in 1963 – a gentle renewal that allows the original vision to stand clearly in the landscape.