Artist Gudrún Kristjansdottir and her partner, Ævar Kjartansson, had spent years searching for a remote residence with a striking view when their son found this former farm at the edge of a fjord in West Iceland. Gudrún and Ævar were “profoundly affected” by the stunning scenery in the Breiðafjörður Nature Reserve, where the 1,959-square-foot structure sits in a lush meadow between craggy mountains and the open sea.

Left in disrepair for years and battered by the area’s notoriously harsh weather, the barn—built around 1937—had been reduced to its concrete shell, maintaining only the walls and columns of what had previously been the farm’s sheep house. London- and Oslo-based architectural practice Studio Bua embraced the opportunity to recycle and preserve the industrial building for the new owners. Their brief was to transform the former farm into a home for the couple with an artist’s studio for Gudrún.

The homeowners and the Studio Bua architects agreed that the concrete structure had weathered beautifully; the exterior was overgrown with lichen and started to take on the appearance of a natural rock formation or classical-style ruin. “The concrete wall is like a part of the earth,” says Icelandic architect Sigrún Sumarliðadóttir, principal at Studio Bua with Mark Smyth and Giambattista Zaccariotto. “We wanted to elevate what we found there, as it is a very special place,” she continues, adding: “We almost didn’t want to touch it.”

To contrast with—but not distract from—the rugged outbuildings and surrounding landscape, the team at Studio Bua built a low-impact timber insert that allows the existing structure to maintain its distinctive character while adding another level to the home. The architects meticulously restored the original concrete structure, which was “fragile in some places,” Sumarliðadóttir says, and lined the existing barn floor with a reinforced concrete raft.

The new volume is clad in corrugated Aluzinc to withstand the extreme local weather and also as a reference to 20th-century Icelandic buildings, which were typically built with corrugated-steel cladding. On the ground level, diamond-cut window openings reveal beautiful cross sections of the structure’s aggregate shell, which was made using pebbles sourced from the beach just below the residence.

Inside the home, the subdued and sophisticated palette contrasts vastly with the rough exterior and wild setting. “Both have a calming effect in quite different ways,” says Sumarliðadóttir. The team focused on incorporating natural lighting throughout the spaces by inserting glazed openings into the new and existing walls.

Downstairs, with the ability to construct new openings more limited by the aggregate, the team placed a two-paned window over the kitchen sink and a three-paned window in the dining nook. Large picture windows on the second level frame views of the coast and mountains.

The largest room on the first level is Gudrún’s art studio, which is finished with polished concrete floors and stained birch plywood walls. Part of the space sits under a double-height ceiling with a roof window that ushers in natural light. A glass door and tall windows also provide ventilation and, perhaps most importantly, inspiring views.

To make the art studio flow naturally with the kitchen and dining area while also remaining distinct, the architects built a small cement step between the spaces. High-quality woolen curtains—made using a ’60s fabric that Gudrún sourced from her father’s textile business—can be closed when the artist needs extra privacy for her work.

A plywood staircase leads from the ground level to the second floor, which the architects refer to as “the domestic sphere.” On this level, vertical wooden slats, in both white and pale pine, recall vernacular Icelandic interiors.

“You feel so close to the nature whether you are inside or outside,” Gudrún says. While the home’s many windows fill each space with daylight, the long and dark winter nights require expert interior lighting. For the fixtures, Studio Bua chose unobtrusive ceiling LEDs.

To control clutter, the team created a “service core” on the ground floor with storage for clothes and art supplies. There is also built-in storage under the stairs, as well as in the bedrooms.

Of course, the renovation in this remote area didn’t come without its own set of challenges. “In some cases, we couldn’t make it to the site at all because the area was inaccessible due to bad weather,” says Sumarliðadóttir.

Still, it was a main priority for the architects and owners to minimize the environmental impact of the project. Scraps from the interior plywood cladding were used to create handrails and bespoke furniture, while concrete cutouts were repurposed for steps, retaining walls, and exterior furniture. The former sheep house that was left in ruin became Gudrún's “cloister garden,” where she now grows flowers and herbs.

Related Reading:

Before & After: A Country Home Blossoms in the Ruins of an Old Stone Barn

A Historic Icelandic Midcentury Gets an Alluring Modern Twist

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Studio Bua / @studio_bua

Builder/General Contractor: Eiríkur Kristjánsson

Structural Engineer: Gísli Guðmundsson, GÁG ehf.

Photographer: Marino Thorlacius / @marinothorlacius

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A Derelict Barn Finds New Life as an Artist’s Studio in Iceland