Architecture

Apelle: the wooden home in Finland which is being called a boat

Apelle: the wooden home in Finland which is being called a boat
The boat-like Apelle family home, located in Karjaa, Finland
The boat-like Apelle family home, located in Karjaa, Finland
View 38 Images
The boat-like Apelle family home, located in Karjaa, Finland
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The boat-like Apelle family home, located in Karjaa, Finland
The Apelle wooden family home located in Karjaa, Finland
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The Apelle wooden family home located in Karjaa, Finland
The building is nestled amidst its natural surroundings of rock beds and trees
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The building is nestled amidst its natural surroundings of rock beds and trees
Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
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Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
Multi-use space with a large boat-like window
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Multi-use space with a large boat-like window
Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
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Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
Apelle features a dramatic bathroom
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Apelle features a dramatic bathroom
Designed by architect Marco Casagrande, the unique home took one year to design and another year to complete construction
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Designed by architect Marco Casagrande, the unique home took one year to design and another year to complete construction
Apelle home, designed by architect Marco Casagrande
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Apelle home, designed by architect Marco Casagrande
Natural light floods the home all year round
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Natural light floods the home all year round
The interior design possesses a continuous composition, where the walls, kitchen and even living room furniture are all seamlessly built into to each other
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The interior design possesses a continuous composition, where the walls, kitchen and even living room furniture are all seamlessly built into to each other
The interior design possesses a continuous composition, where the walls, kitchen and even living room furniture are all seamlessly built into to each other
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The interior design possesses a continuous composition, where the walls, kitchen and even living room furniture are all seamlessly built into to each other
The building is nestled amidst its natural surroundings of rock beds and trees
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The building is nestled amidst its natural surroundings of rock beds and trees
The Apelle wooden family home located in Karjaa, Finland
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The Apelle wooden family home located in Karjaa, Finland
Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
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Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
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Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
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Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
Apelle: exterior of the fireplace
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Apelle: exterior of the fireplace
The Apelle wooden family home located in Karjaa, Finland
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The Apelle wooden family home located in Karjaa, Finland
Natural light floods the home all year round with glass ceiling walkways
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Natural light floods the home all year round with glass ceiling walkways
The house is also equipped with a couple of internal and external ladders
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The house is also equipped with a couple of internal and external ladders
Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
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Apelle house is a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment
The wooden home features high-quality insulation and access to geothermal heating via a 150-meter (492-ft) deep well
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The wooden home features high-quality insulation and access to geothermal heating via a 150-meter (492-ft) deep well
During construction, the utmost care was taken not to disturb the natural habitat
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During construction, the utmost care was taken not to disturb the natural habitat
Designed by architect Marco Casagrande, the unique home took one year to design and another year to complete construction
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Designed by architect Marco Casagrande, the unique home took one year to design and another year to complete construction
During the winter months the open living space can be heated by the thermal ground heat, coupled with two interior fireplaces
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During the winter months the open living space can be heated by the thermal ground heat, coupled with two interior fireplaces
During the winter months the open living space can be heated by the thermal ground heat, coupled with two interior fireplaces
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During the winter months the open living space can be heated by the thermal ground heat, coupled with two interior fireplaces
The same space can be used for all the living needs: working, eating, relaxing, entertaining and sleeping
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The same space can be used for all the living needs: working, eating, relaxing, entertaining and sleeping
Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
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Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
Apelle master bedroom can double as a work space
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Apelle master bedroom can double as a work space
The master bedroom includes three large porthole-like windows
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The master bedroom includes three large porthole-like windows
Natural light floods the home all year round with glass ceiling walkways
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Natural light floods the home all year round with glass ceiling walkways
Natural light floods the home all year round with glass ceiling walkways
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Natural light floods the home all year round with glass ceiling walkways
Apelle by architect Marco Casagrande
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Apelle by architect Marco Casagrande
The same space can be used for all the living needs: working, eating, relaxing, entertaining and sleeping
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The same space can be used for all the living needs: working, eating, relaxing, entertaining and sleeping
Apelle by architect Marco Casagrande
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Apelle by architect Marco Casagrande
During construction, the utmost care was taken not to disturb the natural habitat
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During construction, the utmost care was taken not to disturb the natural habitat
Apelle by architect Marco Casagrande
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Apelle by architect Marco Casagrande
View gallery - 38 images

The Apelle wooden home located in Karjaa, Finland stands out out from your average eco-home, as it was constructed as if it were a boat. The building is nestled amidst its natural surroundings of rock beds and trees, where the utmost care was taken not to disturb the natural habitat. Designed by architect Marco Casagrande, the unique home took one year to design and another year to complete construction. It was built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats – they maintain that the home is actually a boat.

“Real construction workers are a very sensitive kind of structural artists,” Marco Casagrande told Gizmag. “Our carpenters started to talk about a boat immediately when they saw the drawings and how the house was going to be fitted on the site without blowing off rocks or other heavy foundation works.”

Casagrande went on to tell us how the carpenters took on a protective role of the home’s interior fluidity and didn’t mind correcting him along the way. “They felt the nature of this house from the very beginning and took on the responsibility of protecting its soul during the construction process,” said Casagrande. “The emotional energy from their hands is everywhere in the house and this impact does not disappear ... it almost feels like a kind of love. They were sailing this house from the very first scratch. I did the navigation.”

Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat
Built with the help of two local carpenters who usually build wooden boats, the home according to them is actually a boat

Casagrande designed the Apelle house with the intention of creating a basic family home with multi-functional living zones and a strong connection to the surrounding environment. Following the theme of a wooden boat, the home’s interior design possesses a continuous composition, where the walls, kitchen and even living room furniture are all seamlessly built into to each other. The master bedroom goes on to include three large porthole-like windows and the house is also equipped with a couple of internal and external ladders. Furthermore, the use of the interior zones can change from day to night. The same space can be used for all the living needs: working, eating, relaxing, entertaining and sleeping.

The wooden home features high-quality insulation and access to geothermal heating via a 150-meter (492-ft) deep well. During the winter months the open living space can be heated by the thermal ground heat, coupled with two interior fireplaces. Natural light floods the home all year round through the large windows and glass ceiling walkways. “The ecology of this house is normal. There are no tricks,” said Casagrande. “This is a well-insulated wooden house, heated up by nature.”

Casagrande hopes to continue building “good homes for good people” and remains passionate about designing sustainable projects that can make a difference. “So much can be done by using our hands outside the mainstream industrial fiction,” he said. “Sustainable architecture is not rocket science; it is linking our body to the site-specific natural environment. Architecture is a mediator between human nature and the rest of nature, which also brings in an equally great responsibility of not alienating modern man from nature. We are nomads.”

Source: Casagrande Lab via Archdaily

View gallery - 38 images
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