Iceland Villa | Villa Lola by ARKÍS architects

Designed in 2010 by ARKÍS architects Villa Lola with unrestricted mountain views, to the north and south is located in Akureyri, Iceland. This Iceland Villa is 128m² (1378 ft²) of gross floor area.

Design

The client requested the possibility to divide the house into three spaces, or apartments that could be enlarged or reduced as needed.
Villa Lola is 128m² of gross floor area.
Another request from the client was to use low maintenance materials and to develop an inclusive approach with regards to the site and building.
Based on these requests the design process started.

Location

The experience of being on site played a major role in the design. The house faces Akureyri across Eyjarfjodur bay with unrestricted mountain views, to the north and south.
Villa Lola is strongly rooted in its surroundings, playing of the dignity of the landscape and the uniqueness of his appearance. The form of the building is composed of three peaks that point towards the sky, forming a valley between the roof slopes. The roof form is indicative of the landscape; mountains, valleys and a fjord surround VillaLola.
The approach to the house is from above, which gives the building unique unrestricted views of Akureyri, the largest town of northern Iceland.

Weight of Nature

It was decided to seize the natural gradations of the site where natural light and beautiful color combinations are formed at different times of the year, grass, straws, weeds and birch woods surround the house and elevate the exceptionally strong appearance of the larch surfaces. The natural landscape of the site was left undisturbed.

Materials

VillaLola is built with a frame of sustainable goal settings.
Villa Lola is clad on the exterior with Larch-wood. The larch is weathered to its nature gray-ish color, forming a natural weather protection. All loadbearing members are of wood except for one concrete wall, used for stabilizing the structure, and a concrete foundation.
Flooring is of robust wooden boards and concrete terrazzo. Inner walls are gypsum surfaced stud frame walls painted with environmentally friendly paint. All windows are of wood, clad with aluminum on the exterior.

— ARKÍS architects

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