Skjulet Surf Bar

Skjulet Surf Bar is a small extension to an existing open-air bar on the west coast of Öland, the Swedish island in the Baltic Sea known as the Island of the Sun and the Wind. For decades Öland has supported a lively surfing community, and the strait between Mörbylånga and Kalmar is particularly popular for windsurfing, kitesurfing and wave surfing. Commissioned by Mörbylånga Municipality and Skjulet Öland, Dahlberg Busnardo's addition responds to the conditions of an exposed stretch of coastline, a landscape shaped by wind, shifting weather and seasonal occupation.

The existing building, a former ice cream kiosk from the 1960s, set both the scale and the logic of the addition. Rather than replacing or transforming it, the project continues it through a new volume that holds an insulated kitchen and a sheltered gathering space. Together, the old kiosk and the extension form a sequence of open and enclosed spaces, allowing the bar to operate under changing weather while keeping its informal relationship to the beach.

The extension is conceived as a simple timber frame. Its construction relies on ordinary dimensions, repetitive elements and locally familiar materials. The façades are clad in red-painted Fjällpanel, a profiled timber board widely used in Swedish agricultural and domestic buildings, while the roof is finished in bitumen felt.

Horizontal timber shutters extend the envelope beyond the glazing, mediating between interior and exterior. In summer they filter sunlight and reduce heat gain; in the off-season they close the building entirely, leaving only a compact timber volume in the landscape. The project avoids architectural gestures in favour of constructional clarity: structure, enclosure and environmental response are resolved through the same set of elements, so that each component performs more than one function.

The building seeks to be part of an existing coastal condition, where wind-shaped pines, juniper, grasses and low vegetation define the edge between land and sea. Its scale, material presence and restrained expression aim at continuity with the modest barns and storage buildings scattered across the island. Construction was carried out by Hansa Bygg and Karl Linus Bygg.