Interactive floor plan: Trondheim cabin

If ever in doubt about where in your lot to start building your future home, olden-day Norwegian wisdom suggests to trust the infallible instincts of the earth’s oldest inhabitants; the animals. Oslo-based Fantastic Norway’s latest work, a small but perfectly formed cabin in the country’s middle-north, did not embrace local traditional techniques of house building, but certainly did take locality and climate very seriously. 'Traditionally you could actually see where you should place your house by looking at where the cows were resting, but in the lack of cows, we went for a more technical and precise survey guided by a PhD expert on local climatology,' explains Blakstad Haffner.

See more images of Fantastic Norway's cabin

The cabin, only finished a few weeks ago, is located in the Fosen countryside area near Trondheim, enjoying breathtaking views towards the sea. The architects’ most important concern was to make a great house, responding to the clients’ needs, without of course leaving the local landscape and harsh weather conditions, and the area’s strong cold winds, out of the equation. 'The inspiration was drawn from a good mix of historic, traditional and contemporary ways to give shelter in response to landscapes,' say the architects.

The house uses its body to stir the wind over the main volume, breaking it up at the same time into several gentler draughts, a technique that convinced even the most sceptical judges when the team performed 1:1 tests on site in order to get planning permission from the local authorities.

The building is almost entirely made out of wood, in a polygonal-shaped plan, which came out of the client’s brief for a cosy family retreat, which would provide a range of different outdoor spaces. It also includes three bedrooms, living and dining areas, and plenty of small terraces to relax and look at the amazing landscape.

This is the architects' first private residential project to be realised, and this is only the start for the young practice: 'We are open to any design task, from a table to full master plans. It is important for us to work in different scales. Everywhere we see the fantastic'.