Tag: pine architecture

Modern Pine Home in Finland Puts a New Twist on the Classic Log Cabin

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

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What does a modernized version of a log cabin look like? In Finland, a forest home by architecture firm Pluspuu Oy gives us one beautiful example, stacking thick laminated pine logs with modern mitered corner joints and a design that prioritizes natural light and views of the landscape outside. One entire wall consists of floor-to-ceiling windows so inhabitants can look out onto the lake through the surrounding trees.

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The architects note that they built the house to withstand frosty temperatures that can dip as low as -22 degrees in winter, with geothermal heat as the source of warmth. Unlike in traditional log buildings, there are no overlaps or visible cross corners in the logs that make up the exterior and interior walls.

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“The 202x205mm laminated timber log consists of three-layer glued pine – the hard heartwood always forms the outer layer,” they explain. “In Finland, logs are also used for constructing schools and kindergartens, for example, these days. The most important criterion for using timber logs in the construction of public buildings is the clean and healthy indoor air in the log house.”

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“The windows are triple-glazed thermal glass. Blown-in wood fiber insulation, made of a material as breathable as timber logs, is used for the roof insulation. So we can talk about a truly ecological construction approach.”

Modern Stable in a Finland Forest Uses Raw Pine for Happy Horses

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

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A beautiful modern stable on the edge of a forest in rural Finland, north of the city of Espoo, boldly features a predominantly white pine design both for looks and for practical reasons. Completed by local architecture studio Pook, the farm building incorporates a sharply gabled asymmetric roof with horse stalls and storage on one side, and a manure barn on the other. So why’d they go with unfinished white pine?

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According to the architects, the use of untreated pine cladding helps to regulate the humidity inside the stables, keeping the horses happy and healthy. It also avoids any wood finishes that could off-gas toxins into the stalls. But take one look at all these gorgeous photos and you’ll see that aesthetics played a role, too. Raw pine makes up the majority of the interior and exterior surfaces, mostly in the form of tongue-and-groove boards as well as the timber framework. Concrete was used in areas that the horses might get dirty.

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These boards extend all the way from the floors to the high ceilings, perfectly setting off the skylights that flood the interiors with sunlight during the day. Mechanical vents provide natural ventilation, and hot air pumps – along with the heat generated by the horses themselves – help maintain comfortable temperatures inside.

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“The aim was to locate the building nestled in a picturesque great landscape,” say the architects. “Its long edge follows the direction of the forest slope and brings the building’s gable into the woods. In addition to landscape benefit, this created wind shelters in outdoor spaces to protect against the prevailing southwestern winds. Massing is based on the steep, asymmetric gabled roof, under which all central functions are located.”

Creative Pine Architecture: Train-Inspired Mobile Party Pavilion

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

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Sliding along a raised platform adjacent to a former brewery and factory complex, this creative little pine structure is a mobile party pavilion that lights up like a lantern to host events after dark. The old Cesis Beer Brewery in Latvia is set to become a center for arts and science, and the pavilion connects the facility to the adjacent Castle Park. Made of locally sourced pine, the structure was designed and built by 13 students from the Riga Technical University Summer School.

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Pine is frequently chosen as the main material for temporary pavilions like this one, but ‘Night Train’ stands out for three reasons: its dangling, light-diffusing lumber ‘curtains,’ its illumination and the way it slides up and down the 43-foot-long track like a carriage. The track also functions as a walkway linking the industrial complex to the wall overlooking the park.

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There’s a table at the lower end, and a dining platform at the higher end. At night, a section of the pavilion’s roof is removed to shine light up onto the brewery’s towering brick chimney, allowing it to act as a beacon inviting passersby to come explore. It’s a cool example of unusual and creative temporary architecture, putting a spotlight on the versatility of pine.

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“Night Train aims to provide a visual link, allowing views for brewery visitors to the park and creating curiosity about the changes afoot at the brewery from the public outside. We wanted to use light as a key element, as it has the ability to effect and transform spaces far beyond what we can physically build in this short time. At night the glowing lantern peering over into the public park attracts curiosity about what changes are going on in this derelict territory.”

Pine Shines: Tranquil Writing Pavilion Retreat in a Brooklyn Backyard

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

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When a writer sought a calm, meditative space free of the distractions of modern life, architecture firm Archtensions responded with a design that’s brilliant in its simplicity. The interior of this tiny, black-stained backyard structure is clad in nothing but pine plywood for a serene environment that encourages creative thinking.

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Commissioned for a creative couple in Brooklyn, the small studio is set on a slightly elevated platform built up against the base of a tree. The glass door lets in lots of natural light, and a single window looks out onto the bamboo fence – a view that’s seemingly intentionally limited to avoid external stimulation.

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The pine plywood pieces making up the interior are faceted in an organic, irregular fashion, leading up to a single square skylight focusing on the branches of the backyard tree and casting dappled sunlight into the space. The result is that of sitting inside an oversized gemstone. The combination of natural light and natural materials provides a warmth that just wouldn’t be present if the designers had painted over the wood.

Modern Pine: Cantilevered Home Redefines Rural Architecture

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

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When you think of buildings you’re likely to see set in grassy meadows out in the country, it’s likely farmhouses, barns and other conventional rural buildings that come to mind. But K_M Architektur subverts that expectation with ‘House Dornbirn,’ a modern pine-clad residence overlooking the Rhine Valley, Lake Constance and the Vorarlberg Mountains in Austria. Its upper volume is stacked upon the lower one, creating an overhang that provides shade and makes the balcony feel like it’s projecting out into the landscape.

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Each level of the home is made of a different material for a dramatic visual contrast. The bottom floor is tucked into the hillside, its walls composed of concrete to improve thermal mass. It contains the garage and entrance. The middle level features beautiful pine siding and contains the bedrooms and a studio, while the copper-clad top level hosts common areas.

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Local white pine wood is used throughout the home, including the floors and ceilings of the interiors and the balcony area. The wood located outside will be allowed to age and weather naturally, silvering over time.

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“Thanks to this wooden facade, which has already weathered to a light gray color, the building fits in harmoniously with the surrounding area,” say the architects. “The house was designed according to strict considerations of sustainability, involving the ecological quality of the materials and choices such as a solar hot-water system, geo-thermal heating and a stove in the living area.”

Breezy Modern Beach House Made of Pine Overlooks the Mountains

Posted on by Jeff Easterling

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When is a beach house not a beach house? You could argue that when it’s not located on a beach, it doesn’t count. But when an architectural typology that’s almost exclusively located on the water is moved to another landscape – like the mountains of Chile – it retains the kind of breezy, open feel that lends itself to associations with salty air and seagulls. Architecture firm WHALE! took this idea one step further by basing the design of this modern pine home on the visual of a stranded whale.

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Doesn’t sound too pleasing, does it? But even if the metaphor doesn’t quite work, the house itself most certainly does, unfolding in a series of stunning minimalist pine spaces directing your gaze right out the giant floor-to-ceiling windows. The three-bedroom house is set upon a cliff in the coastal town of Tunquén, looking out onto an estuary that leads to the ocean.

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“The construction system is made of rigid frames, built on pine wood (2 by 6”) and distanced 95cm, where each frame is different from another,” say the architects. “However, the roof is continuous and homogenous, trapping in a single gesture the different moments of the house.”

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The sharp wedge-shaped volumes of the house projecting out over the cliff enable views from virtually all angles, from the estuary to the mountains. But most importantly – check out how pine has been put to use in such a modern context. The best part is how they stained it various shades, giving it a lighter appearance on the walls and ceilings, leaving it more natural for the floors and making it stark black outside.