A warm character and engaging interior dynamics create a haven for interaction in this Stockholm residence, designed to reflect its owners’ personalities and refined vision.
What does a home with a naturally ‘social’ character look like? Stockholm-based design studio Halleroed has created an exemplar for Acne Studios brand manager, Pontus Björkman and his family. Reflecting the clients’ outgoing personalities and love for entertaining family and friends, the project embodies a balance of domestic functionality and engaging spatial dynamics.
Located in a nature reserve ten minutes out of Stockholm’s city centre, the home echoes the natural grace of its Nordic surroundings, while inspiring personal creative expression throughout its interior spaces.
A sense of effortless sophistication is a hallmark of Halleroed’s architectural projects. Integrating harmoniously into the surrounding landscape of natural rocks and native pine trees, its façade features rough-sawn pine planks treated with natural pine tar and defined by a uniform warm brown tone.
“We didn’t want the home to feel brand new, nor a pastiche of an old house. Nothing existed on this site before, so everything was created new,” Halleroed founder and architect Christian Halleroed explains. “However, many people think the house is actually old, and it has been renovated. This is the best compliment for us,” Christian adds.
“The interior follows the same idea, but of course, you can see influences from different periods, without it being too obvious,” Halleroed founder and architect Ruxandra Halleroed says.
Pictured: Azucena Chinotto armchair.
The entrance features a curved ceiling that channels natural light into the home, showcasing a collection of art—including a marble sculpture by artist Jesper Sundberg Örtegren.
Designed for entertaining and social interaction, the home’s main light-filled living spaces exude a warm ambience. The living room features high wooden ceilings and a statement concrete fireplace, forming part of an interplay between light, materiality, and texture. A Cassina Utrecht armchair by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld sits alongside a Knoll Platner coffee table by Warren Platner, a PP Møbler PP225 Flag Halyard chair by Hans J. Wegner, and a Muuto In Situ Modular sofa.
Custom timber cabinetry in the kitchen and dining areas echoes a warm natural character and nuanced colour palette, featuring vibrant pops of burgundy.
Luminous spaces where guests can dine, chat and relax comprise the core of the home’s layout. Its main social areas are defined by a contrasting structural and material elements such as sandstone door framing, high wooden ceilings and a concrete fireplace in the living room, wooden cabinetry in the kitchen, and a basement guest room connected to a private outdoor sunken garden. Halleroed also created a series of dedicated display areas, including a wooden wall inside the master bathroom—visible through a feature stone frame, where the residents rotate pieces from their eclectic art and design collection, which includes works by Polish artists Wojciech Fangor and Teresa Pągowska.
Esteemed among the fashion, art and architecture spheres for designing a series of Acne Studios boutiques worldwide, Halleroed is synonymous with an architectural signature based on a subtle interplay between light, colour and texture. A palette of warm off-white tones is enlivened by accents of burgundy, marble and a uniform cognac-toned wood that continues throughout the home. These tones and textures converse with a curated collection of furniture pieces, including the Utrecht armchair by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld for Cassina, Hans Wegner’s iconic Flag Halyard chair, and a glass and steel coffee table by Warren Platner for Knoll.
Designed to enhance the social aspects of domestic life, this home is a generous sanctuary where residents delight in hosting family for a meal, chatting with friends around the fireplace, and even inviting guests to stay the night if they become so comfortable that they don’t want to leave.
This piece originally appeared in est magazine issue #57: ‘Kitchen Expressionism‘.
Glass and tile elements form part of the kitchen’s material palette, enhancing the home’s tactile narrative.
Cognac-toned timber cabinets and custom furnishings unify the spaces, complementing warm off-white tones applied on walls.
Structural elements such as sandstone doorframes create a sense of effortless sophistication throughout the home.
Dedicated display spaces throughout the home enable residents to curate a rotating display of eclectic artworks and design objects from their collection. The primary en suite and walk-in robe are lined in leather toned Douglas fir timber panelling with bold quartzite flooring seamlessly connecting the spaces.
Structural stone elements integrate seamlessly with the landscape’s imposing natural rock formations. In the sunken atrium—designed to bring natural light into the home’s lower levels—a grouping of Montana Pantonova Concave chairs by Verner Panton sit alongside a marble sculpture by artist Jesper Sundberg Örtegren.
Rough-sawn pine planks define the home’s façade, creating a sense of contextual authenticity with its surrounding natural environment.
