Designed by Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter, There is no bad weather, only bad clothing’ is a popular saying among people in Trondheim, Norway, and this fireplace was apparently designed to support this local wisdom. The practice was invited by the city’s authorities to design a special outdoor area for one of the town’s kindergartens, helping to support year-round outdoor activities for children.
photography by © Jason Havneraas & Grethe Fredriksen
Although the region is characterized by predominantly maritime climate and the weather varies considerably throughout the season, all seasons are equally attractive to the Norwegian children that enjoy outside activities all year round.
Together with the standard playground facilities, we wished to combine an enclosed space for fire, storytelling, and playing.
plan
Given a very limited budget, reusing leftover materials from a nearby construction site was a starting point that led the design to be based on short wooden pieces. Inspired by the Norwegian turf huts and old log construction, a wooden construction was built and mounted on a lighted and brushed concrete base. The structure is made of 80-layered circles of varying radiuses, laid on top of each other to form a secretive, welcoming nook. Every circle is made out of 28 pieces of naturally impregnated core of pine that are placed with varied spaces to assure chimney effect and natural light. Oak separators differentiate vertically between the pine pieces to assure airflow allowing easy drying of the pine pieces. A double curved sliding door was designed for locking the structure, whatever the weather.
section
Project Info:
Architects: Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter
Location: Trondheim, Norway
3 D Consultancy: Scenario Architecture
Client: Trondheim Municipality
Rapid Prototyping: Espen BÊrheim
Contractor: Pan Landskap AS
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Jason Havneraas & Grethe Fredriksen
Project Name: Fireplace for Children
