Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Architecture & Design Special – Norway
The Tosvoll holiday home was built in the exact spot where a previous holiday home had been knocked down. Photo: Haakon Nordvik.
Contextual buildings – designing houses for areas With a versatile approach to architecture within the county of Rogaland, Norway, and the southern part of Hordaland, Vikanes Bungum Arkitekter designs homes, cabins, schools, churches, hospitals and everything in between. By Line Elise Svanevik
With an age range from old to young, and an equal ratio of men and women – something the owner, Nils I. Vikanes, has tried to uphold throughout his 25 years of being in the game – the firm Vikanes Bungum Arkitekter believes in designing contextual buildings. “We try to stick to modern architecture, but it has to fit within the context – whether that’s an urban one or a rural one, the surroundings will always lay the foundation for our architecture,” explains Vikanes. 78 | Issue 105 | October 2017
When working on rural projects, the team focuses primarily on using natural materials such as untreated wood and natural stone. In more urban city architecture, they use brushed bricks and treated wood panels.
Designing houses with strict guidelines One of their holiday home projects in Tosvoll, which was completed three years ago, was designed after the pre-
vious holiday home on the premises was torn down. “The local government had given us clear instructions on the size and placement of the house, so it was sort of a rebuild of the shell that was left from the old building, but with a completely new shape and expression,” explains Vikanes. “The style is very modern but, at the same time, it has a clear resemblance to the more traditional architecture – however, the details and use of materials make it very modern.”
Salvation Army project Not their most typical project, the Salvation Army commissioned Vikanes Bungum to design a building that was going to be used as housing for drug ad-