The Studio of Scarcity of Resources and Creativity (SCS) at the Moscow School of Architecture and Design (AHO) is focused not only on design, but also on the implementation of projects: it is precisely bringing the initial idea to implementation that is taught to students. This time the task was Småbruk, a barn in Nes commune near Oslo. This commune is agricultural, but the Norwegian capital is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe, and Nes may soon become one of its suburbs. Local authorities understand the inevitability of the coming influx of population, but at the same time they would like to preserve the rural character of their commune, especially since Nes is one of the main grain producers in the country.
As a solution to this problem, the professors and students of SCS proposed the concept of "pocket farm" "Smobruk", which literally translates as "small farm". His customers were Terje and Elisabeth Moreud, owners of the Dislanhaugen farm in Nes. The complex will include four eco-houses and a barn that has just been completed. This "small farm" is for those who want to live in the countryside and do a little farming, but still stay close enough to Oslo to be able to travel there to work. In the barn, four families will be able to store their agricultural products, tools and machines, as well as keep animals.
The barn has the appearance of a laconic volume with an asymmetrical gable roof, whose angle of inclination continues the line of the slope above which the building stands: thus, it was the wishes of the customers who wanted to preserve the beautiful view from the windows of their house to fit it into the landscape. In order not to break the line of the relief, the doors are hidden - facing the forest. Also, in order to harmonize the building with the natural environment, the authors of the project made its shell "muted": it consists of softwood slats (23 x 36 mm) with 23 mm wide gaps between them: black steel sheets of roofing material are visible through them.
For their project, the architects chose the traditional frame-frame construction method for Norwegian architecture, and the supporting structure was made of strand board with an oriented structure: this was done for the sake of cost savings and ease of construction. In addition, softwood beams were used.
The assembly of the barn began in the workshop, where students partially assembled its frame. Then, at the construction site, the resulting 22 frame modules were installed with a crane on a concrete base plate: they were secured with metal brackets inserted around the perimeter of the foundation during its solidification. Of interest is the solution of the end wall: the frame from the beams brought into the interior is used as storage shelves. The construction work took 6 weeks, the size of the barn was 225 m2 (9 mx 25 m).
