House in the pinesHouse in the pines

The house stands on a plot of old pines, and the main request was not to compete with the forest. The brief called for a shared living room with a fireplace, a kitchen made for cooking together, three bedrooms and a study with a door that closes.

I planned the ground floor around the fireplace: it separates the living and dining areas without blocking the view straight through from the entrance to the terrace. The staircase moved to the north wall to free up the south-facing windows. Upstairs are the bedrooms, each with its own dressing room, and a small library on the landing.

The palette comes from the plot itself: bark, needles, moss, grey stone. Walls are finished in clay plaster, floors in thermally treated ash, and the fireplace is clad in slate. In the evening only warm, low light is on — floor lamps, wall lights and shelf lighting — while ceiling fixtures are kept for cleaning and cooking.

The result is a house where dark greens and timber tones do not make the rooms gloomy, because light and views were planned together with the finishes.

Materials

• clay plaster
• thermally treated ash
• slate
• wool and bouclé
• blackened steel