Hotel SUB, Stokkøya by Pir II Arkitektkontor AS

Photographer: Dan Ågren

The clients, Torild Langklopp & Roar Svenning, a young couple running a small sheep farm at the island of Stokkøya, off the Norwegian coast, wanted to do something more out of the place they inherited, and perhaps be able to make a living out of it.

They wanted to create a place for people to “get away”, with a high architectural quality at this unique place. But at the same time they had to keep the investments down, in order to make it work economically.

Their goal was not to create an exclusive and excluding place, but to create a place where this uniqueness could be experienced by everyone.

Pir II started working with the client in 2001 and now, 9 years later, the project has become a regional and national attraction.

The development had several phases.
The coast huts, 28 small holiday houses, ranging from 35 to 70 m2, situated gently in the vulnerable landscape were sold in order to fund the next steps.

The Beach Bar, built in 2006, is placed right on the Hosnasand beach facing the north sea, and allowing you to experience beautiful sunsets and heavy storms while enjoying excellent cuisine from local produce.

The SUB Hotel is situated just behind the Beach Bar, and is the latest addition to the Stokkøya projects.
It contains 13 rooms/flats, with identical plans, but made unique by using different surface materials and furnishing in each room.
The building is partly buried underground to keep a low impact in the landscape. The vegetation roof makes it difficult to discover the building when arriving at the place, while the front of the building opens up towards the beach and the sea view.
Small sky domes let in the natural light, creating a special atmosphere in every single flat, and act as little lanterns at night.
Each room/ flat has beach- and sea view and is protected by a winter garden/veranda. The formwork boards for the concrete are reused as exterior façade at the front of the building.
The interiors of the rooms combine design classics with vintage furniture, artwork and one-off pieces (made on site by master students from School of Design and Crafts at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden); - every flat has its own material pallet and its own identity. Redesign and reuse of materials (partitioning walls sewn out of used sails for racing sail-yachts etc), contrasts between the materials (raw and polished concrete, plastic materials and wood), artwork and furniture make every room special to the next. All the rooms are wheelchair accessible.
The hotel also contains a lobby café, meeting facilities and outdoor barbeque area.
Running along the rear of the building, and completely buried under the sand, is a technical utilities corridor which gives great possibilities when it comes to maintenance and flexibility. The building gets a great deal of its heating energy from an air to water heat pump.
Modest, simple architecture, minimal footprint and respect for the landscape were key words for the whole development, which was built on a very limited budget as well.