In a property of the clients that is part of what is so called ‘Finnskogen’ (forest of the Finns), in Norway, Espen Surnevik was commissioned to build these two intimate cabins.  Leaning on Norwegian tradition, Espen Surnevik tried to come up with something unique in the forest that would engage with the landscape and its colors. He was inspired by the writer and artist Tove Jansson, whose texts and drawings express the Nordic view of Finnish nature and woods. The client wanted the huts raised above the ground so that they could feel safe in the dark nights of the forest, and in his research Espen Surnevik came across ‘fire towers,’ structures found in Scandinavia, Russia, and North America, elevated over treetops, from which to watch out for smoke and flames.

The cabins are equipped with a double bed, a small kitchen, a fireplace, and a complete bathroom, and can each accommodate up to six people because of four extra beds that can be pulled out of the walls. The interiors are entirely clad in wood and local materials, and the exteriors in black zinc oxide and black steel. Also made of steel is the main structure, six meters of which is embedded into the ground so as to withstand wind loads.