Apelle is a wooden one family house located in Karjaa – Finland. The building rests in a natural harbor like a boat in a sheltering pocket surrounded by bed rocks and trees.
image courtesy Marco Casagrande
The interior space of Apelle is a continuous tube that grows gradually along the house and through the main opening and terrace into the forest. Along this axis the collective and private actions are tuned according to the times, functions and needs of the day and night. The same space is used for everything from sleeping to eating and from socializing to work as a studio space or a gym. This kind of multi-functional space of “tupa” or “pirtti” is common in traditional Finnish architecture. A free standing cube serves for water with a sleeping loft on top.
image courtesy Marco Casagrande
House Apelle is part of nature. The surrounding forest has been architecturally articulated into a shelter for a family of contemporary natives. The house is in the forest as much as the forest is in the house – the architecture is a mediator between the modern man and nature.
image courtesy Marco Casagrande
Apelle is well insulated with wood based materials and during the harsh winters it heats up by thermal heating supported by two fire-places. The main building volume is structurally supported by a smaller volume on the side acting as an outrigger.
Apelle is built by two local carpenters used to for building both houses and wooden boats. According to the carpenters, this is a boat.
+ Project facts
APELLE
Architect: Marco Casagrande
C-LAB: Nikita Wu, Jan Luksic, Shreya Nagrath, Arijit Sen
Construction Manager: Bengt Öhman / LU-Rakennus
Master Carpenters: Ingolf Westerholm, Jens Nylund
Furniture Design: Marco Casagrande
Furniture Prototype Master: Mirella Peltonen
Location: Karjaa, Finland
Size: 140 m2
Materials: Wood, black brick
Completed : 2013
Kindly supported by
Wood materials and expertise: UPM Kymmene
Window structures, manufacturing and assembly: Pilkington + Schüco + Domus
Roof window structure and assembly: Pilkington + Lasi-Kalle
Paints: Tikkurila
Household machinery: SMEG
Interior details: Domus, Lasistamo, Hansgrohe, Sovella, Teclux
+ All images courtbesy Marco Casagrande
