Client: Ästad Vingård
Architecture: Norm Architects
Interior Design: Hedda Klar
Furnishing & lighting: Audo Cph, Wästberg
Artworks & ceramics: Viki Weiland, Hoii Ceramics (Trine Høj Bendixen), POJ Studio
Photography: Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen
Interconnected by sleek wooden walkways that skim the water’s surface, the seven villas forming this tranquil natural haven maintain an unbroken, profound relationship with their surroundings. The project’s essence lies in fostering communion with nature, illustrating a symbiotic bond that begins with the natural landscape and extends to embrace both the human experience and the architecture accommodating it.
Here, the built environment appears to emerge organically from the earth, speaking the material and chromatic language of the trees, the fluid movement of the lake waters, and the intangible presence of light. Nature itself molds the architecture, giving it voice and form, allowing it to become its perfect echo.
As Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm Architects explains, «The project is all about balance. We wanted to create something that could stand out and be spectacular in the most understated and natural way possible». Both the architecture and its interiors employ a language designed to foster a harmonious, synergistic dialogue with the natural world. The designers have crafted a light, almost suspended structure, seamlessly integrated with its surroundings – a floating village that generously offers unparalleled and ever-changing vistas of the lake and its encompassing landscape. The most intimate aspect of this nature-immersed experience unfolds within the rooms, arranged around a central water feature that serves as a fluid connecting space. Inside each, an atmosphere of serene dreaming prevails, inviting guests to slowly and quietly appreciate nature, whether from their bed or any chosen spot for contemplation. The architecture, with its expansive glass walls, transforms into a warm, inviting vessel that frames a continuous sequence of diverse natural scenes.
In this narrative, the rooms evoke the hidden hollows often found within tree trunks, offering secret nests and shelters. For an unmediated, truly immersive connection, each room boasts a private plunge pool, discreetly nestled just beneath the lake’s surface. Within the villas, the resonance with nature is so profound that any elaborate decoration becomes unnecessary.
With oak-clad walls, dolomitic lime ceilings, and natural fiber textiles, the environment inherently possesses its own ‘texture’ – essential yet rich in tactile and visual allure. And then there is light, an immaterial substance that, filtered through meticulously designed apertures, reveals its every nuance according to the sun’s angle. This interaction orchestrates a visual dance with the architecture, delivering dynamic, ever-evolving sensory experiences. In this unique hospitality setting, true luxury is redefined as the rare privilege of being truly immersed in nature, observing it and becoming one with it – through water, light, and lush greenery.
