MNY Arkitekter completes "down-to-earth" house for two sisters in Finland

Finnish studio MNY Arkitekter has completed Two Sisters, a timber holiday home in Salo that is designed to allow two siblings to live "together separately".

To create a dedicated space for each of the two sisters, MNY Arkitekter divided the home into two standalone units joined by a central terrace overlooking the surrounding rocks and pine trees on Finland's west coast.

"In many ways the site is one of typical Finnish inner archipelago terrain and vegetation, and one of the main goals was to preserve as many trees and visible rocks as possible," MNY Arkitekter founder Mathias Nyström told Dezeen.

"Equality of the views from the two units was also important and had a significant impact on the layout."

The home's two units "fan out" to provide privacy and avoid the surrounding trees, while making space for an existing sauna, utility room and overnight shelter on the site.

Each block features large windows at its western end, looking towards the sea and pine trees to the west. Openings facing the central terrace have been placed to minimise overlooking.

"Being in one of the units you can only see the other from certain points, otherwise you mostly sense the existence of the other part," said Nyström.

"You are on your own, but feel part of a bigger entity," he added.

Each living space at Two Sisters has been finished with black kitchen counters, a dining table and a large freestanding fireplace. Built-in bench seating provides space to sit and look out over the landscape.

In the northern block, a bed is housed in a small nook off this living space backed by a full-height window, while to the south the slightly larger unit provides a double bedroom and two single bedrooms alongside the living space.

Two Sisters has a prefabricated structure of glue-laminated timber, finished externally with vertical planks of spruce. Internally, pale timber walls, floors and ceilings are treated with lye.

"The aim for the atmosphere was to create a uniform, serene space where nature plays a big part - the end result is very uplifting," said Nyström.

"The weathered silver-grey wood will fuse the building in the landscape with rocks and pines. All in all it is a down to earth and subtle building," he added.

Elsewhere in Finland, MNY Arkitekter created a home on the shoreline of a small lake in Tenala using seven different varieties of timber.

Other recent projects in the country include a sauna and restaurant on the edge of Lake Saimaa by Studio Puisto and the steel-clad Dance House by JKMM and ILO architects in Helsinki.

The photography is by Multifoto Ab unless otherwise stated.

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