Architecture Danish design Design hotels Journal Sweden

A weekend at the Vipp Shelter

The Vipp Shelter - a perfect cabin in the woods

Dreams can come true. This is how I felt while curled up in front of a roaring fire, looking out to a frozen Swedish lake. All in the comfort of the Vipp shelter for a very special birthday weekend.

I’ve written about the Vipp shelter in the past when it was first built. Mainly an introduction piece but I remember at the time, everyone that I spoke to was stunned and in awe of this structure.  A 55m2 dream shelter in the Swedish forests designed by one of my favourite Danish companies, Vipp. It is completely furnished with Vipp products, including a fully working kitchen, bathroom and bedroom looking into the sky. Who wouldn’t want to stay there?? So yes, now you can. Vipp have opened up the shelter as a hotel! There’s only one bedroom so once you check in, it’s fully booked.

I’ll be interviewing chief designer Morten Bo Jensen in my next post about his approach to designing the Vipp shelter. Including more details of the shelter and what else I discovered while staying there. There’s so much to talk about that I can’t do it in one post.

The Vipp Shelter - a perfect cabin in the woods

With a combination of travel, health and business being all consuming in my life recently, I needed an escape. I was determined to turn 35 with a focus on what I want for the year ahead. To discover Scandinavian landscapes, exquisite designs and to look after myself a little bit better than I have been. The Vipp Shelter ticks all of these boxes.

It’s located in the Swedish forests overlooking a beautiful lake. It’s roughly 2.5 hours drive from Copenhagen, so not too long for our weekend getaway. We arrived in the dark and late on the Friday, so I couldn’t see the landscape or details of the shelter until the morning. But getting in from the cold and dark was a great relief and a wonderful surprise. Large concrete floor slabs were gently heated and gave an ambient, cosy heat. Switching on the lights, the walls all dark grey felt, most of the products black and pitch black windows from the dark outside, it was a spectacularly dramatic welcome and surprisingly comforting too.

We lit a fire, cooked up a risotto and relaxed for the evening. Feeling very lucky to experience such a place. Later, we pulled the sliding doors open and sat on the floor with blankets, wine and nibbles (fire roaring), truly enjoying the 5 star camping experience.

The Vipp Shelter

I instantly felt at home here, there’s pretty much everything you need. Just bring your own food. That makes the stay even more fun because you get full use of a Vipp kitchen. I think this is a great way to understand how the design works and you can truly feel the quality.

The Vipp Shelter

Breakfast with an incredible view of the frozen lake and forests. Such a magical place.

Swedish forests and frozen lakes - a view from the Vipp ShelterThe Vipp shelter The Vipp shelter The Vipp shelter The Vipp shelter

The lounge area is furnished with a day bed, shelving, books and lighting. I spent hours here lost in my own thoughts.

The Vipp shelter The Vipp shelter Vipp lighting

The Vipp desk lamp, now on my wish list, to be honest most things here are on my wish list after staying here. Products will be listed and linked in the next post, for this post I want to share the space and feel. 

The Vipp shelter Vipp lighting The Vipp shelter Vipp lighting Swedish winter at the Vipp Shelter

We even had some entertainment on the ice. Well, we were spectating two men skating on the icy lake. It was quite fascinating.

Swedish winter at the Vipp Shelter The Vipp Shelter

The ceilings and walls are all clad in thick grey felt panels. Which made sense in so many ways, for warmth, acoustics, light and shadow.

The Vipp Shelter

Opening up the sliding the large glass doors, even though it was quite chilly, gave the Vipp shelter a new dimension. Even though this highly engineered structure looks so industrial, it wasn’t fighting against the natural surroundings.  It’s hard to explain how this can be. Maybe the visual simplicity helps. The soft dark greys and soft black tones. The matt finishes on almost everything (apart from the windows of course).  Whatever made it work, it just did.

Note the large rocks cleverly placed, originally from this plot of land, once the glass doors are open you can step down to the grounds.

The Vipp Shelter

An abundance of chopped fire wood both inside the round planter and stacked outside.

The Vipp ShelterThe Vipp Shelter

Light flooding though the large windows and sky light casting the most beautiful shadows in the soft black Vipp kitchen.

The Vipp ShelterThe Vipp Shelter, Vipp Kitchen

Making myself at home while making a bit of a mess. I welcomed cooking in this space.

The Vipp ShelterThe Vipp Shelter

Food styling minus the food. A snap shot of a happy time spent making full use of the space. Experiencing the intended functionality of everything there.

The Vipp Shelter

Lighting love. Both the suspended lights and lamps cast gorgeous light.

The Vipp Shelter

The bedroom is on a mezzanine level. To get there Vipp designed and made a ladder (attached at the top) that you pull out when you need to climb and can push back against the wall once finished with.

The Vipp ShelterThe Vipp Shelter

A cosy bedroom with stunning organic cotton bedding by Aiayu. A window with perforated steel covering the window and giving privacy is on one side of the bed. The big treat here is being able to sleep under the stars. The ceiling is completely made up of window panes. We heard some interesting animals calling each other from across the lake (I get far too excited about wildlife so I was like a giggly child). 

The Vipp Shelter

I didn’t take many good shots of the bathroom as it was quite a dark space under natural light. Very beautiful bathroom though. When the lights were on it was great but I don’t like taking pictures with the lights on so I’ll try to edit them for the next post. Though I wanted to add something that is important to all hotels.Something that I get very annoyed when it’s not there especially when staying in 4/5 star hotels. Toothpaste. Vipp has a fabulous selection of Aesop products including toothpaste! Thank you Vipp, you passed a secret test of mine. A simple request but so incredibly important to make the guest feel at home.

The Vipp Shelter

Another moment of contemplation and wonder. I would gladly come back in the summer (which in fact if you book in the summer you get to use canoes on the lake!!).

The Vipp ShelterThe Vipp Shelter

In review the Vipp shelter is an incredible place, an experience and a dream come true. If you’re interested in booking it then visit Vipp’s website for all of the information but also feel free to add comments and ask me any questions.

H x

*disclaimer, this post is written in collaboration with Vipp, who made a design geek’s birthday xx 

12 Comments

  • Reply Abi | These Four Walls blog March 2, 2018 at 11:57 am

    Wow – it sounds and looks stunning! What a wonderful way to celebrate your birthday. Your photos are beautiful as always, too x

  • Reply Matthew Pike March 2, 2018 at 12:53 pm

    Now this has just gone to the top of my wish list for places to stay. Vipp products have always appealled to but it’s great to see them in a hote setting. The felt too!

    Lovely post.

    • Reply Hannah March 27, 2018 at 10:20 am

      I’d quite like to go back. It really is amazing

  • Reply cate March 2, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    Your photos are stunning, absolutely stunning! Looks like such a wonderful, peaceful and restorative getaway xx

    • Reply Hannah March 27, 2018 at 10:21 am

      thanks cate! xx

  • Reply Isadora Guidoni March 23, 2018 at 5:42 pm

    I’m amazed by your photos, they all look so incredible! Such a beautiful place too, love it!

    • Reply Hannah March 27, 2018 at 10:20 am

      thanks so much! It really is a stunning place x

  • Reply Kaitlyn August 27, 2018 at 9:47 pm

    What time of year did you go? It looks beautiful.

    • Reply Hannah August 29, 2018 at 1:00 pm

      I went in February. It was absolutely beautiful. A dream come true

  • Reply Maria October 18, 2018 at 12:21 am

    Hi Hannah,

    Do you happen to know the brand of the black basin that holds firewood?

    Thank you!
    Maria

    • Reply Hannah October 18, 2018 at 9:59 am

      Hi Maria

      Yes this is by Friends & Founders. I’m so in love with it, I’d quite like one for myself.

  • Reply Hamada potter November 8, 2018 at 8:37 pm

    Lucky you. Can you please tell me the material for the fireplace? Thanks!

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