The remote northeastern peninsula of Furillen, on the island of Gotland, is about as far as one can go in Sweden before the Baltic gives way to Eastern Europe. Once the site of military radar stations and active limestone quarries, Furillen’s rugged landscape now attracts artists and vacationers.

One of the peninsula’s newest converts, Mikael Blomqvist, wanted to build an inspiring retreat here for artists, architects, and others to borrow or rent. The entrepreneur and art collector enlisted Andreas Forsberg, of the Swedish architecture firm AQ Arkitekter, to design a 65-foot cube sheathed in glass and Cor-Ten steel hydraulic panels that can close up around the house to form a bunker or be lowered to create terraces. The two-story house—bedrooms and a wine cellar are in the basement level—includes a library and spaces for meetings.

Forsberg continued the theme of “opening and closing” in the kitchen by installing German manufacturer Bulthaup’s flexible B2 kitchen workshop. It includes three distinct elements: a stainless steel countertop with a stove and sink and two walnut “tool cabinets” with doors and shelves that fold out for easy access to appliances, dishes, and pantry items. “It’s more like furniture rather than fixed interior design,” says Forsberg, who likes the idea of kitchens becoming smaller instead of more monstrous. “I think Bulthaup is figuring something out about modern living.”

Two freestanding, identical side-by-side bathtubs, on the ground floor, have views out to the surrounding forest through the house’s ceiling-height glazed doors. The bathtubs sit outside a sauna made of teak louvers. “If you have several people, it could be quite practical,” says Blomqvist of the bathtubs.