{"id":22731,"date":"2025-09-15T00:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T00:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/22731\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T00:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T00:08:10","slug":"a-creative-couples-swedish-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/22731\/","title":{"rendered":"a creative couple\u2019s Swedish home"},"content":{"rendered":"

We don\u2019t want it to be like an aquarium that you stare into,\u201d says Pontus Bj\u00f6rkman of his pine-clad, tar-treated home on the outskirts of Stockholm. \u201cIf you pass our house on the street, you will see absolutely nothing, and we like it like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just metres from the Baltic Sea, overlooking the city, it takes five minutes for Pontus, brand manager at Swedish fashion brand Acne Studios, and his wife, the model and writer Hanna Juzon, to commute by boat from their private deck into the centre of the city. While they have been living in their newly built home for two years, they designed the concept in blistering detail back in 2018 \u2013 finally sharing their comprehensive 85-page brief with Swedish design studio and architects Haller\u00f6d five years later.<\/p>\n

Central to the design was a house where every\u00a0room was utilised and no space would be wasted. \u201cWe designed the guest bathroom to be on the lower ground floor so that people have to go down and experience the full house,\u201d says Hanna. \u201cWe wanted a home that is alive and for every single part of it to be used.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Join <\/p>\n

Join the dots: Pontus and Hanna, with one of their two dalmatians<\/p>\n

The lower level has an and concrete exterior courtyard that takes inspiration from the Japanese concept of a serene stone garden. At its centre stands a single, gleaming white marble cone \u2013 one of a pair, its twin hidden deep in a\u00a0Swedish forest, by artist Jesper Sundberg \u00d6rtegren, who alone holds the coordinates. \u201cHe believes the cones communicate with each other,\u201d Hanna smiles. \u201cWe are just the hosts; we don\u2019t own this piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although they don\u2019t own either sculpture, the couple found a playful connection to them through their wedding cake, which was baked to replicate the marble cone. A photograph of the happy couple slicing the triangular cake was later featured in British Vogue.<\/p>\n

Pontus is Swedish and Hanna is Polish and the pair, who communicate in English, are part of the Scandinavian fashion set. They originally met in London 20 years ago when Hanna, who studied Applied Maths at Imperial College London, was modelling for Acne Studios; they barely remember this initial meeting, but were reintroduced by a mutual friend a few years later. Today they live with Pontus\u2019s two teenage daughters and their two dalmatians \u2013 Cujo, named after Stephen King\u2019s book about the killer dog, and Chucky, whose namesake is the evil doll.<\/p>\n

\"Light <\/p>\n

Light work: a\u00a0lamp and chain sculpture in the living room hangs above a glass table and a sculpture by Sylvain Rieu-Piquet<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the rough with the smooth,\u201d explains Pontus of\u00a0both his dog-naming and design decisions.<\/p>\n

On the ground floor, the living room stretches up to 4.5m and is centred by a towering concrete chimney, made using layers of concrete to create an\u00a0organic, rough texture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a very clear idea that I wanted the material of the stove to have a story of its own,\u201d he explains. \u201cI\u00a0also wanted it to be unusually big. It\u2019s nice when things are not proportional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the room with light. Limestone portals frame each doorway with pocket doors that slide into the walls. Pontus wanted this specific element in order to create more space and ensure a seamless flow throughout the building. \u201cI think functionality is so important, but also I chose this stone because it is humble,\u201d he says. Materiality was also a\u00a0key consideration for both Pontus and Hanna. \u201cWe both love denim and leather, and are drawn to things that age well,\u201d adds Pontus. \u201cIt tells a\u00a0story over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Go <\/p>\n

Go with the grain: wood plays a key role in the design of the house<\/p>\n

A brass handle shaped to resemble a branch on the hallway cabinet is already softly tarnished with use. In the kitchen stainless-steel counters and cabinets were selected as a practical\ufeff solution for Pontus, who is the main cook and enjoys perfecting his truffle pasta. The room was also consciously created \ufeffso that eating together could only take place around the dining \ufefftable.<\/p>\n

In the dining room a bespoke walnut side unit is home to the sink and hides the dishwasher, cutlery and plates. Its handles are made from the roots of the walnut tree. A\u00a0sculpture by British artist Gabriella Gormley is displayed on top of the cabinet and a framed work by Polish artist Slawomir Elsner hangs above it. \u201cWe wanted the dining room to feel cosy and more like a\u00a0living room,\u201d says Pontus.<\/p>\n

Walnut was also used for their closets in the main bedroom, while oak floorboards and beams are utilised in the sitting room. \u201cWe like the mix of things and don\u2019t like to be coherent,\u201d he adds. This \u201cincoherent\u201d design sensibility is found in the composition of the ceiling in the entrance hall. Pontus intentionally wanted the landing above to look and feel different. \u201cI really dislike it when you understand the construction of a house immediately,\u201d he explains. \u201cI wanted to conceal the walkway between the girls\u2019 rooms.\u201d Instead, a deep, organic, hammock-like ceiling was built \u2013 \u201ca swoosh,\u201d smiles Pontus. Tucked in beside the curved ceiling is a long light tube. \u201cYou get this blurring when the roughness of the light meets this beautiful and warm, feminine shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cooking <\/p>\n

Cooking up a storm: stainless-steel worktops and a tall glass door in the deliberately compact kitchen, which ensures people eat around the table in the dining room<\/p>\n

A collector\u2019s paradise, both Pontus and Hanna\u2019s collections of artworks speak of their style and personal history. Local Swedish ceramicist Calle Forsberg has his workshop nearby and his coarsely glazed pieces can be found scattered throughout their home. Hanna has a\u00a0passion for works from her homeland. \u201cI feel very attached to Polish art,\u201d she says. \u201cI think the heritage is insane, everything is soaked with politics. Sweden has a\u00a0different social system in place. People are more free to create and develop their ideas here compared to Poland \u2013 which is sometimes good and sometimes bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of Hannah and Pontus, the rough and smooth, light and shadow, art and function have been allowed to coexist. Their home tells the story of its inhabitants not through spectacle, but thought, tactility and shared experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We don\u2019t want it to be like an aquarium that you stare into,\u201d says Pontus Bj\u00f6rkman of his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-22731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}