Slovenian architects Kombinat have transformed a gloomy Alpine chalet into a contemporary home with concrete wings and timber shutters like a sliding puzzle (+ slideshow).

The house is situated at the foot of the Karavanke Alps, overlooking the Ljubljana basin in Slovenia.

The architects added an outer staircase and a concrete extension with a roof terrace.

The ventilated vertical wooden facade replaces a dark timber exterior.

The original dark timber can now be seen on the inside wall of the new staircase.

When the window shutters are closed the house resembles a closed wooden box, with only the glazing of the concrete extension remaining open to the landscape.

A garage with a green roof stands on the other side of the house.

We recently featured another project in the mountains – a black wooden house in the Swiss Alps.

See all our stories from Slovenia »

Photographs are by Miran Kambič.

Here's some more information from the architects:

House HV is situated at the foot of the Karavanke Alps, overlooking the Ljubljana basin. It represents a transformation of a weekend house – a two-storey wooden hut with a concrete ground floor – into a family home. The owner wanted to extend the living area in the form of a winter garden and a carport.

To stay within the existing scale of the surrounding buildings, the additional volumes are separated from the basic house with a gap, forming the entrance on the one hand and an outer staircase on the other.

They are partially dug into the slope to become part of the landscape, with a green roof above the carport and a terrace on top of the living room extension.

The basic volume of the house was extended only with a new staircase and service rooms on the ground level.

The existing thermal insulation on the inner side of the wooden hut was removed to expand the inner space and the entire house was faced with new insulation and a wooden ventilated facade.

The timber of the wooden hut – once an outer wall – can now be seen on the staircase.

The original house with dark timber exterior

Sliding wood shutters can close the entire house, transforming it into a unified wooden volume on a wooden terrace.

Ground floor plan – click above for larger image

Then only the large glazing of the winter garden opens to the magnificent view of the landscape underneath.

First floor plan – click above for larger image

Architecture: Kombinat: Tomaž Čeligoj, Ana Grk, Blaž Kandus, Alenka Korenjak, Tina Rugelj
Location: Bašelj, Slovenia
Plot area: 570,00 sq m
Floor area: 176,00 sq m
Project/completion: 2007-12

Section – click above for larger image