The Barns They Are A Changin´ 50 years ago the barn was sheltering cows, now a new era has come and people are moving in.

In the valley Myrkdalen on the west-coast of Norway you find old farming land, but also new land for the recent developed grand scale skiing-resort Myrkdalen. The small barn is situated right in the middle, on the high end of the old farming-land, right below the modern ski-lift, facing the spectacular view of the valley. The old agriculture building has been empty for a long time, it has lost its original use and function and for a while now it has been neglected.  But the times they are a changin´, soon it will be hosting tourist from all around the world. A family of four, a couple on their honeymoon, or skibums, can spend a memorable night here since a modern sleeping module has been installed inside the old barn. 

OPA FORM architects has infused new life into the old characteristic barn by adding a module that provides all the comfort you might need for a good nights sleep. Seen from the outside there are only small signs of the barns transformation. A sculpturesque window stretches out of the old cladding, towards the great view, witnessing a modern structure. Entering the barn you´ll find yourself in the authentic stable, with rough surfaces, an un-insulated room that used to shelter cows. Here nothing is changed, but across the room you´ll see the addition, a module clad in bright aspen with a circular entrance. Hence the small scale of the host, the module is built with the uttermost precision and at the same time great respect for the barn-structure. The addition is self-sufficient, carefully fitted around the existing structure. Part of the module stretches up in-between the low beams, resulting in a spacious vertical room where visitors are able to stand upright. Rest of the interior is carefully designed to offer comfortable sitting and sleeping space during the stay, organized around the central fire-place and the adjacent spacious window.

Travelling the norwegian west-coast one can easily spot worn-down buildings scattered across the scenery fjord-landscape. Old barns clinging on the steep landscape don´t make any useful agricultural buildings anymore since the farming industry changed. But these barns make an excellent tourist destination. Transforming the old buildings function rather than transforming the building-structure is the concept of the strategy called “the barns they are a-changing”.

To ensure the envisioned product, OPA FORM arkitekter personally followed the project every step on the way, from the early 1:1 sketches, the building of the module in the offices workstead and to the installation in the old barn, it was all done in-house and hands-on.