Bohuslän, a province on the west coast of Sweden, is home to more than 8,000 islands, and it’s celebrated for its quintessential fishing villages and spectacular natural beauty—including the smooth rock formations that define its shoreline.

It’s here that Helena Brunskog and Thomas Antonsen decided to build a holiday cottage to accommodate their family of five, as well as relatives and friends. To bring their vision to life, Helena approached her longtime friend, architect and owner of Radar architecture, Susanna Ringnér.

The couple, who have three children and a dog, had previously owned a typical Swedish cottage in the region that they bought 18 years ago when their first child was born.

“It was important to have a place to spend time in my home country with my children,” says Helena. “We had some really happy years in our first cottage, but we weren’t completely satisfied with the location on a busy road, or the fact that the sun disappeared behind the forest early in the evening.” So, they commissioned Ringnér to create a new holiday home—on a site just a few miles away—that would better suit their lifestyle.

The brief for the new cottage was simple: it needed to embrace the surrounding natural beauty, sit gently on the existing landscape, comply with Sweden’s strict building regulations for holiday homes, and be able to host large gatherings of friends and family.

The result is a strikingly simple form with a pitched roof that evokes archetypal timber fishing cottages. “We are most impressed by how Susanna has placed the house in the terrain,” says Helena. “It blends into the surroundings and doesn’t feel as big as it actually is.”

The cottage is divided into two parts, which serves a dual purpose. The home sits easily on the sloped site without overwhelming the landscape, and the interior is split into clearly defined social and private zones.

The tiles that can be glimpsed in the hallway (near the entry) are by Patricia Urquiola for Mutina, and they also clad the bathroom. " layout="bleed" credit="Photo by Mikael Olsson" photoUserId="6133440030542860288"/>

The private quarters are located to the rear of the site, with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor. An open mezzanine level acts as a separate living area for the children or can accommodate guests as needed. The living areas are located in an adjoining large, open volume at the front of the site that features a kitchen and dining area at one end and a flexible living area at the other. “We love that you can see through the whole house in all directions,” says Helena.

The custom dining table—which was made by a local artisan—is located in front of west-facing windows that frame the sunset in the evenings. The table can be easily moved inside or outside depending on the weather. " layout="wide" credit="Photo by Mikael Olsson" photoUserId="6133440030542860288"/>

The home’s construction and material palette draw inspiration from traditional Swedish architecture. “It’s very simply built and uses practical materials—black-painted timber on the outside, a metal roof, and white-painted wood on the interior,” says Susanna.

The kitchen utilizes cost-effective cabinets from Ikea with custom timber countertops and handles to elevate the appearance. “In Sweden, we have quite practical kitchens—so the kitchen here is large with a lot of storage,” explains Susanna. “It’s the big thing in the living space, as it’s where the family spends a lot of time cooking and eating together with friends.”

Throughout the cottage, the thresholds between interior and exterior spaces are emphasized by deep, unfinished timber frames with a raw surface that contrasts with the white-painted interior cladding. The windows are placed to bring in daylight from from sunrise to sunset, responding to Helena and Thomas’ desire for a lighter and brighter interior than their previous cabin.

Working with friends is always a risk—but it couldn’t have been a more successful outcome for Helena and Susanna. “Having Susanna as an architect was a privilege,” says Helena. “We knew that we liked her work and the fact that she is a good friend meant that we got to take a greater part in the design process and became more involved. We spend most of our holidays, and many weekends, all year-round in the cabin—we go for walks with the dog, go boating, swim, pick mushrooms, and just relax.”

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An Inspiring Island Retreat Mixes Scandinavian Style With Japanese Simplicity

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Susanna Ringnér, Radar Arkitektur / @radararkitektur

Builder/General Contractor: Pagander Bygg

Structural Engineer: Peter Antonsson

Interior Design: Susanna Ringnér, Radar Arkitektur

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