A LITTLE GEM BY THE SEA
For Gitte and Per, ‘small living’ was not a deliberate choice. But on a trip to the dunes near Pandrup in Jutland, the couple ended up falling madly in love with the nature and tranquillity surrounding a plot only permitted to have a small 65 m2 summer cottage. They have since built the perfect refuge where they can relax and recharge far from their busy everyday lives.
With the dune landscape and mare straw as the closest neighbours and the North Sea in the backyard, not much time needs to be spent in the area near the summer cottage before relaxation sets in and deep breaths of fresh air automatically fill the lungs. It was precisely this sense of calm that the couple fell for when they randomly put the address into their GPS while hunting for a perfect ground for their new summer cottage.
“We’d written it off because the building permit only allowed for a tops 65 m2 house, and we thought it would be too small for us, but we somehow ended up driving past the place anyway. We got out of the car and sat on a bench in front of the old summer cottage there, and then we simply fell in love,” says Gitte.
Shortly after, the couple began figuring out what they needed in a summer cottage, and how they could optimise the space while also ensuring that the house had the right look.
“We wanted the house to disturb the landscape as little as possible. Therefore relatively few materials have been used. Cedar and oak are seen throughout, and the large windows mean that nature magically becomes part of the interior. This made the summer cottage both visually appealing and incredibly functional. The limited space meant that we had to set priorities and think carefully in terms of smart solutions,” says Gitte.
She smiles as she continues to explain how they had to think creatively to come up with all the storage solutions they would need in their new summer cottage, which necessarily had to be both attractive and functional.
“We had some oak boxes built into the closets by the side of the bed, which now act as night tables. We also decided not to put a dishwasher in the kitchen because we don’t use that many plates and cups when we’re up here. It’s faster to do the dishes by hand, and it’s also part of life in a summer cottage,” she says.
Architect studio N+P Arkitektur created the plans for the summer cottage, which offered them the interesting challenge of creating a building focused on nature and whose restricted space meant maximal attention to the essentials of ‘small living’ with simple lines and limited materials.
“When you work with a project of this size, it’s not about sweeping architectural concepts. Everything superfluous is pared away, with the only focus being on making it graceful and humble, and on using colours and materials to make everything meld well with the surrounding landscape. The house is constructed to resemble a small dune top, just in wood, says Jesper Korf from N+P Arkitektur.
Once a month or so, Gitte and Per head for the North Jutland dunes, where they disconnect from their daily life and recharge in the small house.
“Space is so limited in the cottage that nothing is visually disturbing. An incredible calm reigns both indoors and in the surrounding landscape, allowing us to relax completely. It’s something I think everyone needs once in a while,” explains Gitte.