Dune House
A low timber house between pine forest and dune
Architecture, Landscape
·
2022–2025
Dune House at the edge of the pine forest, early autumn
About the project
A couple who had spent every summer of their lives in Skagen asked for a house that would also feel right in February. We kept it low, long and dark, so it reads as part of the forest from the dune and part of the dune from the forest.
Typology
Holiday house
Status
Completed 2025
Location
Skagen, Denmark
Client
Private
Size
165 m²
Site
0.8 hectares
Partner
Henrik Sørensen
Living room facing the dune
Reading the site in the first week
The concept
One long roof against the wind
The house sits exactly where the pines give way to marram grass. One long roof slopes down towards the prevailing wind, and every room opens south, away from it, onto a sheltered strip of sand.
Inside, a single corridor runs the length of the house like a covered path through the trees. Rooms open off it one by one, each with a single large window framing either forest or dune, never both.
The living room in late afternoon light
Material and light
Charred pine, white sand
The cladding is local pine, charred and oiled so that it will turn silver-black without maintenance. Inside, the same pine is left raw and pale, so the house feels dark from outside and full of light within.
Floors are poured concrete mixed with sand from the site. It holds the warmth of the low winter sun through the evening.
One day in the living room
Morning
07:00
Midday
12:00
Afternoon
16:30
Dusk
19:45
Night
22:00
Bedrooms and kitchens face east, so the day begins with low, cool light across the walls.
At noon the sun stands high in the south, and the deep roof keeps the living room bright without glare.
In the afternoon the light turns warm and low, reaching across the floor to the far wall.
At dusk the west windows hold the last colour of the sky while the room slowly falls quiet.
At night a few low lamps take over, and the windows turn into dark mirrors of the garden.
Credits
Architect
Clerestory
Partner in charge
Henrik Sørensen
Landscape
Anna Berg
Project leader
Mads Kjær
Engineer
Holm & Vestergaard
Contractor
Skagen Tømrer
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