Creative studio TypeO has opened the doors to a shoppable guesthouse in southern Sweden where those wary of holidaying during a pandemic can relax in seclusion.
The loft is located on the rural outskirts of the picturesque town of Ystad. It takes over the second floor of a 19th-century farmstead that TypeO‘s founders, Micha van Dinther and Magnus Wittbjer, have used as a residence and office for the past five years.
Enclosed by trees and grassy hillsides, TypeO Loft is meant to be a calming retreat where guests can holiday away from crowds – an experience that the studio’s two founders say is key in a world that’s been “turned upside down” due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Right now, travel is often associated with a lot of unease,” Van Dinther explained. “We want to offer our guests a feasible alternative – a safe space, if you like.”
“[The loft] is a secluded one-room, slow-living bed and breakfast where guests are invited to take a break from the expectations and demands of the daily grind without having to be surrounded by other travellers,” he continued.
“TypeO Loft is about experiencing a different kind of luxury, the luxury of silence, serenity, seclusion and taking the day as it comes,” added Wittbjer.
The 50-square-metre loft sleeps just two people and is host to a bedroom, kitchen and lounge, which are nestled beneath the exposed beams of the farmstead’s pitched roof.
Each area has been dressed with products that are available to purchase in TypeO’s online store, in case guests want to introduce them into their own homes on return from their trip.
“We chose to make all of the items, goods and furniture pieces available to guests as an extension of our webstore – a way to invite them to step into our aesthetic universe and live with the pieces, try them out,” Van Dinther told Dezeen.
“We believe it creates an authentic and profound experience that no traditional retail concept or showroom can ever offer – with that said, we feel that it is important to never push products on people,” he continued.
“We have selected all of them personally for varying reasons: for their beauty and functionality, for the way they engage our senses or for the way they instigate everyday rituals that we can connect with each other through.”
Products being showcased include the linens on the loft’s king-sized bed, which are from bedding brand Read The Label.
In the kitchen, which features custom pale-timber cabinetry, there’s also glassware from Studio Vit, tableware by Hasami Porcelain and a selection of cast-iron pots and pans from Skeppshult.
The adjacent lounge has a couple of leather slouchy chairs that sit on a grey patterned rug. A dining table has also been placed beside the loft’s full-height front window so that, during meals, guests can enjoy views of the surrounding landscape and local wildlife.
Surfaces throughout the loft, including those in the bathroom, have simply been painted off-white or washed with concrete in an attempt to avoid any decorative features that are “merely excess”.
TypeO Loft joins a growing number of shoppable holiday spots. Others include The McKinley Bungalow, a rental home in Montauk that Studio Robert McKinley has filled with items from its founder’s favourite design brands.
There’s also Pieces Home, an Airbnb in Maine that creative agency An Aesthetic Pursuit has dressed with furnishings from its own collections.
Photography is by Mike Karlsson Lundgren.
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