The PAN-tretopphytter tourist houses were designed by the architect Espen Surnevik in the south of Norway, where the taiga belt begins. This area in the province of Hedmark is called Finnskugen, which means "Finnish forest". Finns from the provinces of Savo and Häme settled there and in the adjoining part of Sweden at the end of the 16th - 17th centuries. As a result, a “pan-northern” culture was formed, which allowed Surnevik to turn to Tove Jansson for inspiration. He was interested in the philosophy of the writer, her view of the complex relationship between nature and northern European man. The remoteness of settlements from each other and the resulting loneliness, long dark winters, cold climate are the most important living conditions, but civilization brings not only warmth and security, but also opposes “mythological”, unpredictable natural landscapes.
Therefore, the “huts on the tops of the trees”, on the one hand, minimally touch the natural environment, and on the other, they take into account the severity of the environment. They are not fortified on trees, like many similar structures, but are raised on steel supports buried in the rock. If it is decided to dismantle the houses, then there will be almost no traces of them. At the same time, the steel structure and cladding, as well as the pine cones-like zinc tiles, are ready for the disaster and can withstand a hurricane twice as strong as possible in this part of the country.
The formal look of the houses is taken from the fire-observation towers common in Scandinavia, Russia and North America, to which the naked functional structure lends the elegance of the art object, according to Espen Surnevik. The residential part itself resembles huts with an A-silhouette and roofing to ground level, typical for Canada and the United States. They are distinguished by a significant height and showiness of the silhouette with a chamber, intimacy of the interior.
The PAN-house is accessed by an external staircase taken into a perforated cylinder. The thin steel shell-pipe not only serves as a support for itself, but also supports the staircase, that is, it does not lean on the house next to it.
Espen Surnevik's PAN huts have a glazed end so that guests can enjoy nature. Such a window also provides the interior with sunlight and helps heat it (along with electric underfloor heating). Inside there are sleeping places for six people, including a bed on the mezzanine level, a bathroom with a shower. The interior is paneled with pine wood and the textiles are made from the wool of local sheep. The total area of such a house is 40 m2, the ceiling height is almost 5.5 m. So far, two such structures have been built, but the customers are planning two more.
