A private client wanted a barefoot house with a warm and tactile feel. Wood became a key material in achieving a quiet and intimate environment – with internal walls of white-oiled oak veneer on wood-based panels mounted on a timber frame, white-pigmented oak flooring and solid oak fittings. Externally, Villa R is clad in a vertical screen of cedar wood, mounted 80 millimetres from the load-bearing frame. The 40-millimetre wide battens are 25 millimetres deep and spaced 15 millimetres apart.
They were sawn from wider cedar planks and then hand-nailed piece by piece. This provided greater freedom to decide on the timber’s dimensions and also make use of leftover wood. Some of the windows have shutters that slide behind the screen when not in use. Since the shutters are made from horizontal battens, this creates a moaré effect on the façade. Most of the cladding is untreated and will silver at its own rate. Seating niches and recesses on the other hand have been oiled to retain their red tone.
