Situated on the archipelago off the coast of Sweden, Villa Överby enjoys panoramic views across the Värmdö peninsula and reveals open plan pure spaces without any clutter or distraction.
The floor plan of the house, a simple rectangular shape, is built around an open-concept living space that blurs the transition into the surrounding landscape. There is a beautiful open transparency between the internal spaces and the landscape outside, heightening the experience of nature and weather that envelops the home throughout the year.
The light-filled holiday home is dominated by pure light colours and a minimalist and simplistic design, it’s the transparency of the structural glazing façade that creates this seamless connection between internal spaces and the exterior landscape. This is emphasised by the use of same limestone on floors and terraces. The Gotland limestone floor surrounds the residence and forms walkways along three of the house’s façades under the roof’s deep overhangs. On the side facing the sea, the limestone opens out into a large terrace with a sunken pool that appears to run into the ocean below and recessed sitting area providing shelter from the wind.
Inside, instead of traditional doors, most openings are ceiling height. Simply turning the corner gives you the impression of entering a new room. Behind the clean lines hides a series of advanced technological systems. The laminated glass that wraps around three sides of Villa Överby has a built in invisible heating system. Tap water is extracted from the sea and treated in a desalination unit. Heating for the floors, outdoor pool and hot water is produced by a geothermal heat pump. District cooling, is also pumped into the house through the rock shaft, which means that all air-conditioning is sourced renewably. All systems are operated by a smart control and monitoring solution, using a web-based interface
Having featured as of Martin Vanger’s ultra-modern, minimalistic residence in ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, the holiday home is represented in the film as an impeccable, pristine, clinical house in order to be a facade for Vanger’s sick dark mind, however its open light filled design is put aside in the film in order to create a sense of a cool, modernistic and claustrophobic atmosphere suitable for the secret dark mind of the character.
