Children not wanted
"Obtaining permission to build homes in the area was relatively uncomplicated," says Egon Brink, who was the design manager on the project. "But the local authority made an unusual requirement – none of the houses was to have more than 3 rooms. The view was taken that tenancies with just a few rooms would be less attractive to families with many children. The reason for wanting that was that the local primary and lower secondary school did not have sufficient capacity to cope with a sudden intake of new pupils. One of the design consequences is that even the large houses, which have a floor area of 124 m2, have only 3 rooms. That, together with the interior changes in level, has resulted in some untraditional homes with big spatial differences in both ceiling height and illumination. Despite the attempt to avoid children on the estate, several of the homes have scooters outside the door and prams on the paths.
Architecture and idiom
With brick facades rendered with pale yellow mortar, the houses appear almost luminous in the green meadows and woods around them. The double-flanged zinc sheeting of the roofs reflects the sky. All the windows and doors have dark frames to contrast with the light walls.
"We often work with the building's simplicity, the precise form," says architect Egon Brink. "For that reason, there are no eaves and all windows lie completely flush with the facade."
The drawing office's basic attitude to the architectural idiom is clearly reflected in the project, where the houses stand as though cut from the same block – windows, facades and roofs follow each other without sudden jumps or distinctive transitions. That means that movement is primarily created through the landscape – the soft, scenic curves and the uncultivated, freely growing natural flora.
Light gives variation
There are windows in several sizes – a tall section with patio doors, a more traditionally sized window and small, narrow windows. The chosen plan gives very deep houses, where illumination can be a problem. It was, therefore, necessary to supplement the light from the windows in the outer wall with other light sources that will draw light into such rooms as staircases and deep sitting rooms. VELUX roof windows have, therefore, been used in the attics. On the roof, vault-shaped skylights have an unmistakeable "chimney" look. The "chimney" has the same effect as in a child's drawing – it helps to give the houses personality.
Inside the houses, corners that would otherwise be short of light receive indirect light; windows between the rooms ensure that the light finds its way into the 12 m deep houses. The many different light sources help to create variation in how one experiences the space, where interior stairs lead up and down and up again to an attic room with a window in the ceiling giving a view of the sun, the moon and the stars and birds flying past.
Facts:
NYMOSEGÅRD Estate in Skåde Hills, designed by CF Møllers Tegnestue
Year of construction 1999
Location Skåde Skovvej 5-83, Højbjerg
Client Tryg-Baltica Ejendomme
Architects CF Møllers Tegnestue, Århus
Turnkey contractor SKANSKA
Consulting engineers Rambøll A/S
Number of dwellings: 83, 2-3-room houses ranging from 72-124 m2
Total floor area 8,523 m2