2014 BOY Winner: Large House

Design is an art, some critics posit. For others, it’s nothing less than pure science. This experimental house by senior principal Hlédís Sveinsdóttir embodies a hybrid view, delivering creativity alongside a rational discipline precisely attuned to the neurologist owner, who lives there with his wife. Sveinsdóttir composed the 7,500-square-foot structure of overlapping circles, squares, and triangles and situated it spectacularly—a perfect man-made object dropped onto a sublime rocky outcropping above a volcanic lake. Volumes are wrapped in titanium, oxidized steel, or glass, the latter encircling a sparely furnished living area at ground level. Furnishings throughout represent a range of modern classics by the likes of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Marcel Breuer, Charles and Ray Eames, and Arne Jacobsen. One private space deserves as much mention as the public zone: A bathroom with a concrete ceiling and walls and a basalt floor also features an enormous, angular tub in statuary marble.

Project Team: Gunnar Árnason; Gunnar B. Stefánsson; Björn Pálmar Sveinsson; Sveinn Áki Sverrisson.