White Barn
The White Barn is an essential part of a cluster of historical buildings surrounding the main building at Hongola Gård. The project involved the total renovation of the old barn using traditional building methods.
The lower floor was designed to accommodate large events while still maintaining a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere for smaller groups. The plan consisted of a series of spaces, including guest rooms, a spacious multi-purpose event hall with kitchen facilities, functional and cozy entry and auxiliary areas, as well as sauna-gym facilities. A key objective of our design was to integrate all these functions into a floor plan that felt natural and was visually harmonious with the historical context of the building.
We aimed to preserve all original structures as key parts of the overall design. These included the unusually thick exterior brick walls with bastion-like window openings, the equally massive old wooden beams of the intermediate floor, and the one original internal wall; a largely intact brick wall with asymmetrically placed openings featuring beautiful old wooden shutters. In the upper floor we retained the original wooden roof shingles and the original, though structurally badly damaged, wooden beams and pillars.
The internal load-bearing structures were essentially replaced on both levels. This was done with great respect for the building's character and appearance. A new load-bearing pillar and wall system was introduced on the lower floor using reclaimed bricks, ensuring that the result looked as if it had always been there. On the upper floor, a sculptural wooden arch structure was added inside the old framework, ensuring structural integrity while leaving all the original beams visible.
The renovation made extensive use of reclaimed building materials from the manor grounds, such as old logs, boards, bricks, windows, and doors. Local craftsmanship was also utilized, including cabinetmakers and blacksmiths. The result is a highly sophisticated and high-quality ensemble, which enables the barn to be used for a wide variety of purposes and extends the historical building’s life by yet another century.
