Nominee for the Annual Architect Award of the Estonian Association of Architects 2023
Nominee for the award of the Estonian Association of Architects for a Residential Building 2023
Nominee for the Annual Award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia in Architecture 2023
Architecture
Peeter Pere (Peeter Pere Arhitektid)
Team
Laura Pint, Janek Maat
Consultant:
Engineer Heiki Meos
Construction
Ehitus5ECO, HS Services, Orku Ehitus
Total area
32m2
Design
2022
Completed
2023
Photos
Tõnu Tunnel

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TAGASI

The space around us affects our behaviour, making us feel either calm or nervous. Whether we act calmly or hurry. Whether we sit and relax or fuss and fiddle around. The house in Kloogaranna is located next to the train station. Going there starts with getting on the train: time will begin to change on the train. The next 45 minutes are spent here. It is part of the experience: you are halfway there. The house is designed for year-round use by a family with children. It is cold from autumn to spring: that’s when the country house is particularly good. In cold weather, heating the house takes a few hours before you can take off the coat. Time slows down when sitting in front of the fireplace. We look at the fire or out of the window. We read. We are on our own. Or with others. The space encourages (or forces) you to be present. To concentrate on one thing at a time. To have a proper rest. It is important to do things as well as possible, not as fast as possible, as Carl Honoré wrote in praise of leisurely, human space of life. When it gets warm, it’s as usual. The smells and sounds, the revived spirit that takes you for a walk by the sea to feel the breeze or the sounds of the forest. You can also be one with nature indoors, that’s why we have the large glass wall. When it gets cold, you need to move – or get back inside. The walks take you to great public spaces to the boardwalks on the beach, in the garden town, by the sea, in the forest, along the dunes or by the stream. You can cycle to Arvo Pärt Centre. Sufficiency, that is important. Nothing excessive. A minimum viable place. To mow. To fuss. To wait. To exert oneself. It is a soothing spatial experience.
Pärtel-Peeter Pere, owner

The brief included a distinctive place that could be built quickly and easily with neither lengthy building permit application process nor strain on the wallet.

This is how the house inspired by the forest was born. The first stage was a sketch where you either capture the essence of the model with quick brush strokes or not.

The messy initial ideas came quickly – everything that had taken shape in my head over the years was put on paper. This was followed by work on the computer, discussions with the client on site and later specifying the work methods with the builders.

The location was set by walking around in the plot and fine-tuning the exact position with twigs.

Children made a cardboard model at home, so the supervision was competent and constructive.

It resulted in a minimum intervention in nature and a building without a single tree felled in the process.

The large shutters and the sliding door open and close the boundary between the forest and the living space.

The steps are steep and make it feel like climbing a tree.

It means living in nature, nothing primitive, only the complete opposite of city life and a pleasant change.

Shadows, rain, wind, light, snow and sounds play on the wall and inside the house, creating a cosy mix of order and randomness.

The exterior is rustic, kind of harsh even. The cosiness of the interior comes from the warmth, lightness and artlessness of wood.

The house is designed for year-round use by a family with children. Heating the building in cold weather takes a few hours which creates a curious spatial experience: time slows down as the heating leads you close to the fireplace. To be present. To have an active rest.

The carbon footprint of transport generated by the house is zero as it can be reached by public transport and by bike. It is located next to the train station, bus stop and bicycle parking station.

The cladding is installed in a way as to produce as little waste as possible. The joints are created according to the length of the boards.

Thus, resulting in a geometrical forest.

Peeter Pere