House Tour: A Dark and Dramatic Project in Sweden by Skälsö Architects
Photography courtesy of Stefan Isidor Bergkvist, courtesy of Skälsö Arkitekter.
After living in a modernist villa, Ulrika and Daniel Prytz were ready for a home that would not only bring them footsteps away from the outdoors but also evoke qualities of nature in the design itself. So they sought out architect Sofia Nyman of firm Skälsö to reimagine a 19th-century house in the small coastal city of Härnösand, Sweden. Nyman opted for a monochrome color palette: the exteriors in tonal shades of green, the interior rooms a medley of gray tones. The result is at once striking and subtle. Take a look.
The entrance has a glossy dark gray floor; the millwork and built-in coatroom walls are painted a paler, complementary shade.
In keeping with a minimalist, modest approach, the family furnished the house with simple, unobtrusive pieces—and, in true Swedish fashion, much of it from Ikea.
The living area.
The kitchen is lined in minimally detailed cabinetry.
A new one-story addition—composed of nearly floor-to-ceiling windows, pine, and concrete floors—is a contemporary counterpoint to the original, historic structure.
The main bedroom has a recessed bed niche with built-in shelving.
In a tiny bedroom, the architects maximized the space by installing a built-in bed with drawers and a simple desk under a sliver of a window.
A view of the extension and the sea beyond.