Situated in a valley at the mouth of the river Vefsn, the town of Mosjøen provides an ice free and safe harbour close to Lofoten. Today the town is dominated by residential areas of detached houses in a strict grid plan. 

The Bay Window house has four apartments designed for people who want to replace their single-family house with an apartment in favor of a simpler life. It has therefore been an ambition to create a project with apartments that have many of the qualities found in single-family houses. 

The massing of the volume breaks down the scale of the building and gives the apartments different qualities and defined private outdoor spaces, partially shielded from each other. The ground floor and second floor are recessed with a smaller footprint that relates to the scale of the neighboring detached houses. The first floor is larger but broken up into smaller volumes.

These volumes form canopies above the ground floor, and terraces on the second. All rooms in the apartments have a bay window in full height that is rotated 45 degrees in relation to the direction of the building. This gives long and uninterrupted views between the houses in the grid plan up toward the hills and the sky. These bay windows also give the building a distinctive look that adds variety and rhythm to the facades. 

The plot was completely flat and left with only sand and gravel after a former building was demolished several years ago. We wanted to create a place that over time will develop natural qualities that can become an enrichment for the new residents as well as for the surroundings. A new topography with varied heights has been established around the building, connecting the building to the ground, and securing privacy for the apartment on the ground floor. In addition to a variety of low vegetation, several pine trees have been planted around and between the broken volumes of the building. In this way, building and nature will grow into a more integrated whole in the years to come.