After yearning to renovate their existing prefabricated home, the owners turned to Oslo–based architecture firm Skapa for assistance. The team worked to accentuate the strength of the dwelling, while brightening and opening up the home to the surrounding seaside views.

Skapa made the house’s gable form more contemporary by removing the overhanging eaves, and replacing the dark sidings and roof with lighter-colored cedar boards for a cleaner and lighter aesthetic.

Using hidden gutters and scarce transitions, the architects designed the house to have a defined volume, and distinctly modern profile.

The cedar cladding is also used for the roof to homogenize the exterior surfaces, and to unify the renovated building with a new extension, which was built at the rear of the site.

This new structure houses an additional living area, and is connected to the main house via a deck and lawn that surrounds the swimming pool.

The architects installed sliding doors on one corner of this addition. These doors fully retract to connect the new living area to the pool.

The layout of the remodeled 2,691-square-foot home—which includes the main house, garage and new extension—creates a courtyard-like area between the buildings that can now serve as a wonderful outdoor spot for gatherings.

Within the main house are two bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a staircase that descends to a basement where a study, more bedrooms, a sauna, and technical areas are located. Both the living area and basement study open onto terraces that look out to breathtaking views of the sea.

Full-height windows were used to frame views of the surrounding nature. Large apertures were incorporated to both the existing prefab and the new extension to strengthen the house’s visual connectivity to the outdoors.

"The material choice and design language is adapted from the character of the main house, but the structures are lower and more open to form a natural hierarchy,” the architects explain.

Project Credits:

Architecture: Skapa Arkitekter

Builder: M2 entrepenør

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An Outdated Norwegian Prefab Gets a Modern Makeover