Now taking commissions for 2027

59.91° N, 10.75° E

Låven Retreat

Lofoten, 2025

Low stone and timber buildings under a long dark roof

A retreat for writers and painters in an old Lofoten farm.

Location

Vestvågøy, Lofoten

Completed

2025

Area

540 m²

Type

Artist retreat

Client

Stiftelsen Låven

Photography

Ola Nesje

The site

The farm sits on a strip of pasture between steep mountain and shore, a cluster of stone barns and a fallen hay loft facing a quiet bay.

The stone walls were sound, laid by hand more than a century ago, but the roofs had long gone. We kept every wall where it stood and treated the old farmyard as the heart of the retreat, a sheltered square where residents cross paths between work and meals.

A grey slate wall with a dark timber door
A long dark corridor with slots of daylight
The daylight corridor

The building

A long dark roof now ties the old buildings together under a single line.

Beneath it, a corridor runs the length of the group, lit by narrow slots cut between the rafters, so the light moves along the floor through the day. Eight studios open off the corridor, each with a bed, a desk and a door straight onto the pasture. The barn at the far end became a shared living room, opened toward the courtyard with tall timber doors.

A dark timber living room open to a courtyard

Materials

Walls

Existing fieldstone, repointed in lime

Roof

Tarred timber shingles on spruce rafters

Light slots

Fixed glazing between the rafters

Floors

Wide pine boards, soap finished

Credits

Architects

Eirik Fjellheim, Amara Okafor, Jun Sato

Engineer

Nordlys Ingeniørtjenester, Bodø

Builder

Leknes Bygg og Tømmer, Leknes