“In dialogue with the terrain, the concrete foundation of the wooden house lies in three staggered planes that follow the movement of the landscape.”

Nestled in the hills overlooking the Icelandic lake of Þingvallavatn sits a camouflaged home called Thingvallavatn House. This modern abode was designed by architecture firm KRADS as a holiday home for musicians Tina Dickow and Helgi Hrafn Jónsson. To help blend the building into the natural site, the architects designed green roofs for each of the three built volumes and completed the facades in black wood panels.

In order for the home to really become a part of the landscape, it required more than simply picking natural materials and textures. The placement of the structure and the levels within had to be carefully designed in conjunction with existing topography. “In dialogue with the terrain, the concrete foundation of the wooden house lies in three staggered planes that follow the movement of the landscape,” describes KRADS. “In a similar manner, the roof surface, overgrown with local grass and moss slopes partly towards and partly with the hill.”[…]

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