Fredensborg House, designed by the Danish studios of Norm. Architects, founded by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen and Kasper Rønn, One of the main goals for this house is to provide a feeling of serenity and calm. To achieve this goal, the use of different contrasting materials was minimized. And to suit the elements of the buildings surroundings and staying true to its natural form, a lot of local materials were used. Fredensborg House is built on five small plateaus connected by steps, reflecting the shape of its surrounding terrain.
As you enter the central hall of the house a grand staircase welcomes you to the highest point of the property, consisting of three different plateaus connecting the master bedroom, the living area, kitchen and dining area that connects serenely in one continuous space. The different areas of the house are divided by volumes of brick that contains the kitchen and fireplace which also serves as room dividers. The spacious staircase is greatly inspired by the main pedestrian street in small villages and serves as a natural gathering place in the house and attracts activity in its space.
The lowest plateau of the house contains the dining area and a small washroom. It is divided from the kitchen area by a noticeably grey brick wall with broad steps on each side, dividing the room into three sections. You will find a long section of small windows just under the rooftop allowing more light to come in from the west part bringing in a faint yellow colored atmosphere in the afternoons whilst giving early evenings a warm ambiance. Another viewpoint of the house is the entire facade of the garden, which is made of glass. There is one wide central window corresponding the exact length of the huge custom made Corian dining table, flanked by double doors facing the garden on each side. The grass from the outside is at precise measure right by the border of each window frame, this brings in the feel of nature visually. Towards west is a high slender window emphasizing height of the ceiling. This window provides a clear view to the terrace located in the center of the house peeking all the way through the living area which is found on the other side of the terrace.
The kitchen is a part of the open plan – but is still partly hidden in two niches allowing the occupants of the house to be able to work on preparing food without the clutter being exposed to their guests. This structure has also left room to build in an oven, ventilation, fridge and storage as an integrated part of the architecture. The centered kitchen is created to make the workflow a lot easier when preparing food and serving guests. When walking from the kitchen area across the central staircase, you get a glimpse of the living area through the fireplace, which can be seen through the staircase, the kitchen, the dining area, and the living area.
The living area is like a niche on the east-west axis, cut into the terrain, resulting in a dramatic ceiling height to one side where the sofa is and with large glass panels to the other side towards the wooden terrace emphasizing the illusion of space. The sense of transparency and the connection between interior and exterior is enhanced by the fact that the level of the terrace floor is the same as the floor of the interior. Between the living area and the children’s sections is yet another small niche cut into the terrain containing a small office space. The master bedroom is situated just opposite the entrance and has a triple section window in a vertical rhythm matching the style of all the windows facing east and west. The bedroom’s view is a small private courtyard that is at the top corner of the property.
The main bathroom is also situated in connection to the central staircase. You enter the bathroom through a small narrow passage that comes complete with built-in storage. The bathroom is in sharp contrast with the bright exterior of the rest of the house and covered in black porcelain tiles – giving the room an intimate feeling like that of a luxurious spa. The room is divided by a single wall which contains and hides all the installations, it follows the theme from the rest of the house with free standing room dividers instead of separating walls. On the one side is the sink in Corian and a built-in mirror that is backlit imitating make-up mirrors from theaters, providing a soft light reflection. Behind the dividing wall you find the privately installed showers.
