HOUSE OF CRAFTS
A new public gateway, workshop building and civic yard for Follo Museum.
Cultural / Craft workshops · Drøbak, Norway · Competition entry · 2021
Details
House of Crafts is a concept proposal for new arts and crafts workshops at Follo Museum in Drøbak, Norway. The building creates a clearer arrival sequence for the open-air museum, framing a new civic yard while providing workshops, storage, administration, and public-facing spaces for traditional making.
The proposal draws on Norwegian green-roof architecture, timber construction, and the spatial logic of the gardstun. Workshop volumes are arranged around shared outdoor spaces, allowing visitors to see craft in progress while giving makers a direct relationship to landscape, daylight, and the museum grounds. A modular prefabricated system supports future flexibility and reduces construction impact on the site.
Project
House of Crafts
Location
Drøbak, Norway
Client
MiA Museene i Akershus
Type
Museum / Workshops
Status
Concept proposal
Stage
Concept design
Year
2021
Size
1,600 m²
Program
Wood workshop, arts and crafts workshops, administration, storage, shared outdoor work areas, and civic yard
Collaborators
SODO-SOPA, Studio Sang
Role
KOSY project
Workshop threshold
Large openings connect the workshop interior to the museum grounds, allowing craft, landscape, and visitor life to be seen together.
Gateway and yard
The axonometric sequence shows how the program is split to form a new museum gateway, frame a civic yard, and organise workshop life around a gardstun-like public space.
Forest edge
The proposal sits between existing trees and a new civic yard, using green roofs, timber volumes, and cuts in the building form to blend into the landscape on one side and define a public gardstun on the other.
Thesis
House of Crafts treats the workshop building as part of the museum experience. Craft is not hidden backstage; it becomes visible, spatial, and public, connecting traditional making with landscape, education, and daily visitor life.
Visible making
Large openings connect the workshops to the museum grounds, allowing visitors to see craft in progress while giving makers daylight, views, and direct access outdoors.
Modular assembly
The proposal is organised as 17 repeated modules that can be prefabricated, transported, and assembled efficiently to reduce site impact and support future flexibility.
Landscape gateway
The building forms a new threshold for Follo Museum, blending into the forest edge on one side while defining a civic gardstun for arrival, gathering, and visible craft on the other.