We met industrial designer Morten in his stunning contemporary home in a converted industrial building, to explore how he’d brought his daylight dreams to life through his rooftop extension.
Seated on a stylish outdoor sofa, amid a wealth of perfectly tended and tastefully arranged greenery, we were almost loath to disturb his obvious serenity. But as our conversation began, his eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and his natural dynamism and passion for great design came straight to the fore.
We toured the space itself, which was drenched in daylight and decorated exquisitely in beautiful blends of neutral tones. Natural materials and interesting textures fused the indoor and outdoor environments perfectly, and we were delighted to meet the very contented and friendly family dog en route.
So Morten, where did the idea for this project begin?
“We have lived here for nine years, it’s an old industrial building and we designed the existing flat as a very open space, knowing that we had the possibility at some point to extend to the roof.
Daylight really means connection to nature and the progress of the day. I think that's what you sometimes experience when you go to a summer house. But we wanted to see if we could implement that in our daily life, with work and kids and so forth.”
What sort of goals and challenges did you face with the project?
“In order to actually connect with nature, we wanted to cut out as much as the volume of the house as possible and incorporate lots of windows. Usually you are a little limited in terms of the size of the rooftop windows, but with Vario by VELUX and the possibility to really customise the windows to what we wanted, that was really a great chance to fit it perfectly to the architecture.”
Why were so many windows and rooflights so important to your design?
“I think that we, as human beings, charge our batteries on daylight. This ability to see how nature is progressing throughout the year is something that you can really feel, almost in your stomach. Whether it's winter or it's summertime, each time of the year contributes with something unique and quite fantastic. You really get a sense of how light shifts from a very bright light in the morning to a very warm and red light in the evening. When it rains, the rain drops on top of the roof windows gives a certain play of light on the wall. These small elements of light are really something that makes the rooftop a very special place for us.”
We have to say it’s a truly stunning space you’ve created here. You can tell you’re a designer! How do you and your family feel about it now that it’s complete?
“The rooftop extension is definitely now our favourite place. This has become a recharging station for us. It's a very important feature that you can actually open up all these glass areas, it’s really very nice to feel that ventilation and connect with the world outside.
In the shower, we had the option to actually make the walls of the shower flush with the roof windows and it gives an extraordinary experience. It looks as if there's no roof on top of the shower and the same goes for the bedroom. Around midnight every day, we have the Big Dipper just above our heads. This experience that you can see so far out into space, when you lay your head down to enjoy your sleep, was very, very exciting and we're super happy with that little feature.”
