By the Inlet

In the holiday home on Helgenæs, I worked hard to create as thin a roof detail as possible. It can be seen on the eaves that tapers all the way in to the gutter profile. Here there are no rafters or beams protruding below. The effect is that the roof looks light and elegant. This is especially important when working with holiday homes, as these traditionally are light constructions that have an almost temporary character.

The main feature, however, is not the roof, but the result of a sustainable idea of ​​reusing solar heat. Not in ugly solar collectors or photovoltaic systems, but in the passive heating of the house itself.

The fact is that once the sun's infrared (heat) rays have entered through a highly insulating glass pane, they will not escape again. The pane works just like the ozone layer. This is why protection from solar heat, ONLY works if the curtain is outside the pane, not inside.

By making a three tiered holiday home, I got the opportunity to make glass facades that align to the sun’s migration across the sky, from sunrise to sunset. That way I get the maximum amount of infrared radiation into the house. Now it just needs to be stored. I have done this by lining all three sides of the house with a hallway. It is the one that binds the whole house together. On one side of the hallway there is glass, on the other there are raw and quite thick brick walls that can really absorb the heat and emit it slowly throughout the evening and night. You probably know it from those late summer evenings, where you can soak up some radiant heat from the house wall. The rest of the house layout is then a given, the rooms are pulled along the hallway like pearls on a string. The kitchen is of course in the middle where you arrive (then there is not that far with the shopping bags), the living room is on the side that opens towards the sunset, and the bedrooms open towards the sunrise. Come to think of it. The entire home is like one big solarpanel. Neat!