Greenhouse Home Kongsberg

The Greenhouse Home of the architect and owner Margit-Kristine Solibakke Klev in Kongsberg in Norway arose from the principle of a “house in a house”. The external skin forms a greenhouse with an area of almost 360 m². Situated within this is a two-storey house in red pine with around 250 m² of living space. The space between the wooden and the glass house is used by the four-person family as an extended living room from spring to late autumn. It is a place between inside and outside that noticeably mitigates the raw Norwegian climate in the cooler months. In the summer, the greenhouse then becomes a meeting place for friends and family. Only in winter does life retreat back completely to the wooden core.

The architect, who has a great passion for vegetable gardening and processing the fruits of her garden, has fulfilled a dream with this and naturally tailored the house to her requirements. The largest space is taken up by the kitchen, which is connected to the greenhouse with a wide glass frontage. In the summer, this can be opened up completely: inside and outside become one. And Klev has planned another kitchen: it is situated on the roof of the inserted wooden house and is where the architect likes to invite people to large family parties and other celebrations.

This individual building, completely matched to the requirements of the architect and her family, is rounded off with a succinct and fresh colour concept. It arose in cooperation with the colour consultant Dagny Thurmann-Moe from Koi Colour Studio. One highlight among others is the pink clay floor on the ground floor, which feels soft and warm when you walk across it. Also, the fronts of furniture, covering materials, curtains, wall colours, tiles and wallpapers in the bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor are tailored to the personalities of the family members. Light switches and sockets from the LS 990 program from JUNG in various colours from the Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier colour system matched to the respective colours were used in the rooms. Among others, fresh blue, red and pink tones were chosen, but also tonalities going more towards black. They complete the romantically contemporary interior of this unusual, architect-designed house.