The Stone Award of 2023

The Stone Award 2023 was presented to Josefine Kastberg and Akkas Arkitekter for the design of “Skogsvillan”, commissioned by a private client. The stone both anchors the house and unites a family’s desire for a lifestyle of privacy in harmony with nature.

The Stone Award is presented annually by the Swedish Stone Industries Federation ”Sveriges Stenindustriförbund” to a project in Sweden where natural stone has been used according to the award’s core values: aesthetic quality, sustainability, and innovation. The 2023 winner is a private residence named Skogsvillan, a rustic stone house built on a remote forest plot by a lake in western Sweden. The client is a private individual who wishes to remain anonymous.

A desire for privacy and to work with the natural qualities of the site were clear requests from the family,” says Josefine Kastberg, lead architect at Arkkas Arkitekter. Our starting point was to create a unique home for the family based on their lifestyle and the characteristics of the site.

The natural element is reflected in most of the material choices, which are highlighted consistently; there was no intention of being minimalist. The rustic character dominates, with beams, oak floors, and stone walls both inside and out. From a design perspective, much of the work focused on creating intermediate zones within the house, explains Josefine Kastberg. The orangery is an example of spatial design that blurs the boundaries between the house, the site, and nature.

One of the most striking features of the house is the spectacular kitchen island in Tossene Grey Bohus granite, nearly five meters long and weighing nine tons. It was an early request from the client: a local material that both anchors the house and emphasizes the architectural concept.

Its size meant that the kitchen island had to be installed on site before the walls were erected. One can only imagine the challenge of transporting it along the narrow gravel road to the villa, says Josefine Kastberg.

The kitchen island was carved from a single, homogeneous block originally weighing 34 tons. Hallindens Granit supplied and manufactured the island, which Kungälvs Natursten then installed. There are no joints, which is unique for this size, says Jörgen Lundgren, CEO of Hallindens Granit.

The openings for the hob and sink had to be made on site, without modern CNC machines. It was old-school work with an angle grinder and chainsaw,”says Christer Olsson, CEO of Kungälvs Natursten.

The kitchen island both anchors the house and serves as a natural gathering place for the family. We hope that the granite will convey a sense of calm and act as a ‘statement’ of permanence, summarized the client when interviewed by Sten magazine a few years ago.

Josefine Kastberg also believes that the finished house conveys a sense of durability. The house is built to age with its unique design. All materials stand for long-term sustainability.

Varberg-based Andersson & Keller built the house on site. The firm has distinguished itself in recent years with numerous projects in one of Sweden’s most rapidly growing areas, where Varberg municipality is the country’s third-largest in-migration municipality. We usually work with our own architect, but in this case, Josefine and Arkkas came to us, says CEO Christoffer Almqvist.

It is not only the house that is built in stone. There is also an outdoor terrace in slate and a stone wall that both frames the cultivated courtyard and resolves the level differences with the surrounding landscape. The interior of the house includes contributions from Danish Martine Lie Interior Concepts. The walls come from our Norwegian subcontractor, and the stone is mounted on Leca blocks adapted on site. It has been an exciting and unique project for us, says Christoffer Almqvist.

Kai Marklin, chairman of the Swedish Stone Industries Federation ”Sveriges Stenindustriförbund” and chair man of the jury, is impressed by both the ambition and the execution. This is yet another project that shows that anything is practically possible with stone, without compromising the material’s essential character.

The jury’s motivation reads: The Stone Award 2023 is presented to Josefine Kastberg and Arkkas Arkitekter for the design of Skogsvillan, commissioned by a private client. By guiding and highlighting the natural materials, the house at the end of the road has become a realized dream for a family seeking privacy from everyday life while also expressing a chosen lifestyle on nature’s terms. Stone is central to both the site and the design. A nine-ton granite kitchen island anchors the house and promises to serve as a gathering point for future generations.