a house in Ålesund
After seeing the images of the beautiful showroom of Norwegian design brand Ask og Eng in Oslo in 2019 I started following their instagram account but also their inspiring homepage journals about their sustainable kitchens and furniture designs.
Kine Ask Stenersen and Kristoffer Eng founded the Ask og Eng studio early 2016, after having built several sustainable kitchens and furniture for them selves over a number of years.
“It all started for us when we built our first kitchen in our first apartment together. We wanted to find sustainable solutions when renovating, and when Kristoffer as an architect came across bamboo as material in a project he was working on, he asked if we should not just build the kitchen ourselves. Kine, as an environmental geographer, but also with a developing interest in interior design, instantly loved the aesthetics of the bamboo and its sustainability. And from there we just never stopped dreaming - and we just kept on doing what we love to do. Design furniture, make them, construct them, photograph them and share them. We are so happy that you are sharing this adventure with us - it really means so much!”
For this amazing newly built home in Ålesund, (west coast of Norway) Ask og Eng designed and made several of the main house furniture, such as the kitchen, the wardrobe, laundry and bathroom and it’s all made out of bamboo. The kitchen and wardrobe were designed using the “grain” bamboo which is custom made from their E collection. The bathroom furniture is also from the E collection, but for a more delicate and Scandinavian feel they used the “wheat” finnish.
If you follow me a little longer and maybe have checked out my own homepage then you will know that I am a real admirer of their great designs. I really wanted to live in this house in Ålesund when I saw it for the first time. It’s so incredibly beautiful and stylish, dont you think so? - Elvera
“Bamboo is a very beautiful material and it is of really high quality and durability, but also its a sustainable choice. Bamboo, which is actually a type of grass, grows significantly faster than trees – up to a meter per day. This means that the bamboo is ready to be harvested after 4-6 years – in comparison to trees that use about 50 years. During growth, bamboo absorbs more Co2 than is released during production, something that makes it Co2 neutral over the complete lifecycle. And it grows this fast without using any pesticides, herbicides or artificial fertilizers.
We use bamboo, which only works with certified plantations, in our furniture. Because of this we can be sure that the bamboo is not only sustainable, but also produced responsibly” - Ask or Eng
Styling: Maria Hove Vestre - photograpy Anne Bråtveit