Contemporary architecture in Norway often pays homage to vernacular buildings and tradition. At the same time, it also offers a Norwegian take on Nordic design. Created in response to the country’s harsh climate, many architectural projects have specially tailored designs that handle bitter winters, salt spray, and fierce coastal winds with ease. On this page, you can see some of the most intriguing and ingenious projects completed by contemporary architects from Norway. From more compact cottages to sprawling family homes, here you’ll discover a range of highly creative as well as distinctly contemporary houses.

Architecture in Norway also celebrates nature and local traditions. For example, contemporary cottages that draw inspiration from agricultural buildings like barns and farmhouses. These modern dwellings often feature classic gabled roofs and wood cladding, but also boast elements like glazed walls and asymmetrical openings that curate the views. Other houses feature cantilevered volumes and sections suspended on pillars to minimize their impact on natural sites. And then you can read more about a partly buried concrete house. Built alongside a traditional farmhouse, this contemporary home features a green roof that blends it into the rural setting, and large outdoor areas that allow the residents to feel deeply connected to the landscape.

Whether compact or spacious, these houses all follow sustainable design principles. Architects use locally sourced or reclaimed materials as well as environmentally friendly systems like passive heating and cooling, highly efficient insulation, solar panels, and water collection systems. Thus, architecture in Norway celebrates nature in more ways than one. Some of these houses also connect their inhabitants to spectacular landscapes. Windows and terraces open to tranquil lakes, rustling aspen forests, bucolic agricultural sites, or winding fjords.