Vindveggen Arkitekter: Building with a sense of place

By Celina Tran | Photos: Melissa Hegge

For Vindveggen Arkitekter, sustainability is not a style, but a way of thinking about architecture: how buildings are made, how they age, and how they belong to the people and places they serve.

Founded in 2005 by architect Martin Glomnes, Vindveggen Arkitekter is an architectural firm named after a historic structure near Fetsund and Rælingen – a 600-metre-long wall in the lake known as Vindveggen, meaning the wind wall, which once protected timber from wind damage.

Like its impressive namesake, the architects at Vindveggen Arkitekter have long focused on buildings designed to last, while reducing environmental impact and creating healthy places to live and work. “Our focus has always been on designing buildings that endure and inspire,” Glomnes says. “While we emphasise genuine ecological design and building structures that last, we also create spaces that foster good work and living environments.”

This philosophy is particularly evident in two recent projects: a family home in Riisalleen in Kjeller, and a new service building at Hvalstjern Skistadion.

Vindveggen Arkitekter: Building with a sense of place

A new chapter

Completed in 2025, the Riisalleen house was designed for a family of five whose existing home on the same property had simply become too small. Rather than starting from scratch, Vindveggen took the original 1980s house as its point of departure, keeping its main ideas of orientation and connection to the landscape while transforming it into something essentially new. “The clients were clear about wanting a home that was both beautiful and environmentally responsible, especially for their children.”

Thinking about their children’s long-term wellbeing, the family requested natural, untreated materials. The result is a home filled with the soft, tactile character of untreated aspen, complemented by polished concrete floors on the ground floor.

Using a deliberately restrained material palette, Vindveggen worked with builder Rune Alnes Dyb to create a space where wood, concrete and metal are allowed to speak for themselves, while the architecture carefully frames daylight, views and the garden. “Continuing one of the key qualities of the original house, the living spaces are oriented towards the sun and the best views.”

The garden was particularly important to the family, and the redesigned house now opens more generously towards it, while a roof terrace offers another place to enjoy the surrounding views.

Even the practical details have a playful touch. Integrated mosquito netting is concealed within the metal cladding and can simply be pulled down when the insects arrive. “I’ve spent a bit of time cycling through Sweden, where I was inspired by the traditional red old farmhouses,” says Glomnes. “Though the house was originally meant to be black, we realised that, especially in the soft evening light, the colour Faluröd would be perfect for the metal cladding, particularly combined with cedar and striking yellow-orange window frames.”

It is not the first time that this Faluröd has appeared in Vindveggen’s designs; in fact, it has become something of a red thread through the firm’s projects, including the facilities at Hvalstjern Skistadion.

Vindveggen Arkitekter: Building with a sense of place

Building for a community

Hvalstjern Skistadion is home to a volunteer-driven ski club with activities ranging from cross-country skiing and biathlon to recreational skiing. With the club’s very own Olympic-gold-winning biathlon star, Johannes Dale-Skjevdal, gaining increasing recognition, the club began looking towards hosting larger events and thus needed a new service building. “The new service building, which we completed last year, provides changing facilities, toilets, a kitchen and café, as well as race administration and commentary facilities.”

Accessibility was also a priority during the design, resulting in four accessible toilets, a lift platform between the main floors, a stair lift to the timing tower and tactile signage for people who are blind or visually impaired. “It’s a space where everyone is supposed to feel welcome,” stresses Glomnes.

The building is designed to feel at home beside the forest, and thus Vindveggen once again worked with Dyb using a deliberately simple material palette, including recycled wood where possible. “The building’s Faluröd metal elements also connect it visually to the existing red buildings at the stadium, while the bright orange windows give it its own identity.”

The emphasis on timber is also a nod to the club’s history of volunteering and local commitment, embodied in figures such as John Dale. In addition to being the grandfather of the beloved local Olympic hero, Dale was a former club stalwart and Glomnes’ own woodwork teacher. “When Dale’s son, Jo, entered the finished building, he called me in tears, having recognised his father’s influence in its emphasis on timber,” says Glomnes. “I cried quite a bit too. It’s the kind of moment that I, as an architect, will never forget.”

Together, Riisalleen and Hvalstjern show an approach to architecture that makes buildings feel naturally at home in their surroundings. Natural materials, local knowledge, adaptability and long-term thinking provide the common ground, whether the building is a family home or a community ski stadium.