Rever & Drage Architects design a quaint timber home facing Moldefjord in Norway

Rever & Drage Architects have designed a slender wooden house laced in warm metaphors – one can imagine it as a collection of their grandmother’s cupboard, or a traditional wooden home placed in a sharply carved meadow.

The house known as the Zieglers Nest is built into a steep hilly site in the little fjord city of Molde in Norway and overlooks stunning panoramic views of the city, the river Molde and the mountains beyond.

Designed for a family of five, the three-storey house employs timber frames that are dovetailed to create an impression of the house being a cabin.

The tall and slim skeleton of the building was decided to accommodate a moderate footprint of the structure and limited use of concrete in the foundations. The facades soften the seemingly rigidity of the form as tall windows and vertical timber finishing grace the front façade and small horizontal panels with a more sober articulation are accentuated on the sides.

The house entrance is through the ground floor, which contains a garage and a five-metre-high utility room as the children’s indoor play area. The family living spaces are distributed on the upper three floors and a roof terrace.

On the first floor are two children’s bedrooms and a bathroom that look out to the fjord and the snow laden hillside. As per Rever & Drage Architects, the first floor is built in framework, while the top two floors that comprise the double height living area and a family library are built in log construction. “For this reason, the staircases, which rest on the framework, are constructed independently of the upper floors such that the log construction can compress, without being hindered by the static parts of the building,” says the firm.

The second floor, which is the heart of the house, is designed as a floating space that frames stunning views while receiving ample daylight. “The tall windows in the living room face the views of the Molde panorama with fjord and mountains to the south, the conservatory in the kitchen faces the sheltered garden to the east, while the library faces the close-up effect of a green pocket to the west,” adds the firm.

“There is also a Romeo and Juliet balcony towards the living room for home stage performances. From the gallery you can proceed to the roof terrace for extra evening sun, starry sky and northern lights,' mentions the firm.

Every space within the timber home is arranged according to the views it captures and to provide a natural aesthetic that comforts with its sheer warmth.