Project Name: Villa S

Location: Orust, Sweden

Design Team: Andersson & Stare

Total Floor Area: 195 m²

Completion: 2023

Photography: James Silverman

Feature:

Project - Villa S is perched on top of a mountain on the island of Orust, offering panoramic views of the fjord below. The property includes a private dock with a boat slip and boathouse, accessible via winding paths and stairways that lead down the steep mountainside. The plot is dramatically contoured and characterized by the wild Nordic landscape with raw granite outcrops, heather, and pine trees that give the site a genuine and untouched natural atmosphere.

The main challenge was to position the house at the top of the mountain while preserving the natural surroundings and adhering to strict building regulations. The solution took the form of two offset volumes, one placed higher and closer to the mountain surface, balancing the other, which bridges a greater height difference. This composition not only creates protected outdoor spaces but also generates varied spatial experiences both inside and out.

A central part of the design process was to create a house that would blend into its surroundings. The house is therefore clad entirely in a uniform wooden paneling, treated to harmonize with the surrounding rock and pine trees. Rainwater drainage is discreetly integrated behind the cladding, and the pure, minimalist form gives the house a modern and abstract character like a monolith emerging from the mountain. A gravel driveway winds itself up and through the house, making the house accessible by car without disrupting the landscape.

The interior layout is distributed across the two volumes, with one housing private spaces and the other serving the social functions. From the main entrance, you step directly into the social areas and are immediately met with a clear sightline through the house and out toward the fjord. The gable window in the living room frames the view of the fjord, and a large sliding door opens directly onto the terrace that blends effortlessly into the mountain. The large openings bring nature closer and add serenity to the spatial experience. The private part of the home is more enclosed but features a master bedroom with the same breathtaking panoramic view of the fjord and direct access to the terrace here as well.

Design Team - ANDERSSON & STARE is an architecture firm established in 2019 by Julius Andersson and Oskar Stare, located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Their expertise extends throughout Scandinavia, executing a diverse range of projects including vacation homes and private villas. Julius and Oskar first met at art school but their partnership was forged during their studies at Chalmers University of Technology, and has only grown stronger through the years.

Their approach is rooted in delivering exceptional architecture that enhances the daily lives of people in a sustainable and progressive manner. Each project is thoughtfully considered in relation to its unique location, resulting in powerful, beautiful and coherent designs. Their attention to materiality and detail is evident in every project, ensuring the highest level of quality.

The practice's methodology centers on a phenomenological understanding of place, where each intervention emerges organically from intensive site analysis and programmatic interpretation. Their completed works—predominantly residential typologies including vacation retreats and private villas—demonstrate a sophisticated material sensibility and tectonic precision that elevates everyday spatial experiences.

What distinguishes ANDERSSON & STARE is their commitment to architecture as both cultural artifact and environmental response. Their projects seamlessly integrate sustainable strategies within a progressive formal language, creating compositional clarity through careful volumetric articulation and material authenticity. The practice's work consistently demonstrates exceptional detailing, where construction assemblies are resolved with both technical ingenuity and aesthetic refinement.