Glass Snow House

This heaven little villa is constructed of 202 mm thick laminated timber logs with mitred corner joints. The main focal point are the large windows which open directly onto the stunning lake landscape. Although the house heavily glazed it is built to withstand frosty winter temperatures of -30 °C.

Designed by Pluspuu Oy, unlike in traditional log cabins, there are no overlaps or visible cross corners in the modern log construction. Geothermal heat is used as a heat source – the heat is pumped out of a well drilled in the ground. In the summer, the outside temperature may be higher than 30 degrees – cool air is then pumped from the ground into the building.

The 202 x 205 mm laminated timber log consists of three-layer glued pine and  the hardwood heartwood forms the outer layer. The most important criterion for using timber logs in the construction of public buildings is the clean and healthy indoor air in the house. The windows are triple-glazed thermal glass. Blown-in wood fibre insulation, made of a material as breathable as timber logs, is used for the roof insulation.