Between Birch House / Kim Lenschow

Built without a concrete foundation, the house rests gently on helical pillars, leaving the forest floor nearly untouched. The corresponding lightweight, wooden construction and modest material palette endue the house with a temporary yet natural presence in the landscape.

By contrasting a tiny and unassuming gable with relatively tall rooms, the house appears small from the outside but spacious from the inside. The guest room is accessed from the outside as a way of further economizing on interior space, contributing at the same time a sense of privacy between the host and their guests.

Birch plywood is economically applied only where the body and walls come into contact, reducing material use and exposing different layers in the construction. Structural elements are left visible and allow one to recognize and follow the becoming of the house, creating an experience of temporal lightness.

The house’s facade sheets generate thin, shadowy lines across the structure, producing a subtle sense of hovering. The airy aesthetic is apparent throughout, from the thinly cut metal pieces making up the bathroom to the delicate wooden frame and its low-density wood fiber insulation.

The project examines a lighter way of building, ecologically as well as aesthetically.