Most of the site for the Ersland & Skeie House is a single outcrop of bedrock dropping steeply toward the street, and the house Knut Hjeltnes Architects designed in collaboration with architect Francesca Iarrusso is held above it on steel rods anchored directly into the rock. Located in Stavanger, Norway, the timber house was built for a young couple with a small child, and apart from one concrete wall facing the street, the foundations leave the rock formation intact.
Neighboring houses stand close on every side, so the plan turns inward. The house takes a U shape around a wooden piazzetta, and the fourth side of that outdoor room is formed by the two trees already on the site, a maple and an apple tree. The outer faces of the U are mostly closed, while the inner faces open almost entirely onto the courtyard.
The courtyard house is a Mediterranean type, where enclosure usually serves shade. In Stavanger the problem is reversed. The sun stays low for much of the year, so the soffit is kept as low as possible and the wings are made very narrow, letting light from the courtyard reach across the full depth of each room. The same narrowness keeps every room within a few steps of the piazzetta.
Entry begins at street level with a meandering stair laid directly on the ground, which ends in a hanging stair that rises into the raised volume. The top of the rock breaks through the wooden floor of the piazzetta, so the outcrop the house was designed to protect remains visible at its center.
The exterior is painted white to match a neighborhood made up mostly of white buildings. Inside, the structure is entirely wood, with the post and beam frame left exposed. The construction, bespoke furniture, windows, doors, interior walls, and ceilings are all made of pine or peeled pine plywood, whose rotary-cut veneer shows a broad, irregular grain across large panels. Pine darkens toward amber with exposure to light, so the interior will warm in tone over time. The bathroom is fitted in brass, which the architects expect to develop a patina with use.
