House Into

Location: Espoo, Finland

House area: 2,013 square feet/187 square metres

Site area: 24,111 square feet/2,240 square metres

Description: Standing lightly on the rock and protected by the curving wall, the house extends towards the evening sun. The building is organised into clear-cut sectors and its appearance is contemporary in form as well as in material, conveying rationality and diversity.

The road leads the visitor towards the white protective wall. The undulating eaves and tall, oblique steel columns of the west front are only partially visible, giving a hint of the binary character of the house. The visitor crosses a steel bridge above a pool and arrives at a tall glass cut made in the white wall —the main entrance. The neighboring buildings are left behind on crossing the bridge and what is left is the natural surroundings, readily open both within and outside the house, on its balconies and terraces.

After the entrance there opens a view through the high glazed wall to the large terrace and the sea. The high-ceilinged entrance hall is the heart of the house, integrating the various spaces both functionally and visually. The bedrooms and the sauna are on the left side of the entrance floor and the swimming pool is on the right. On the first floor the kitchen is on the left, with the adjacent dining area and morning coffee balcony, while on the right side there is the living room with its afternoon sun balcony. The entrance area has a visual connection to the basement, where there are hobby and utility spaces, and a door to the parking area beneath the terrace.