Tag: cabins

With a gorgeous setting in the heathlands of South Africa, home to one of the world’s most delicate ecosystems, this complex of vacation cabins had to be low-impact on the land while making the most of the views. KLG Architects created a series of pine cabins connected by a floating boardwalk that protects the sensitive vegetation of the “fynbos,” a belt of natural scrubland in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces.

Fynbos is full of endemic plant and animal species, meaning they’re found nowhere else on Earth. One area called Table Mountain has more species of plants than the entire British Isles. With a Mediterranean climate, many colorful flowers and steep, dramatic mountains, it’s a truly special place. The architects wanted to highlight the beauty of these surroundings with lots of glass, and materials that augment nature instead of contrasting with it. 

“Pine was chosen as the most suitable building material because it is lightweight, readily available, and will fade to grey and blend into the natural landscape over time. The timber construction methodology allows the cabins to “float” over the fynbos. The foundations are restricted to small concrete pad foundations, which limits the impact on the ground, and the environment. The raised cabins allow ground water, the local fauna, insects and snakes uninterrupted routes under the cabins.”

“The units are designed to respond to the area’s weather and climate. Careful consideration of orientation allows scenic views and wind protection.  High specification insulation panels in the walls, roof and floor keep the units cool in summer and warm in winter. Timber slatted sun screens on the pergolas control the summer sun over the decks. Large gabion walls which house the built-in braai’s also provide cooling through thermal massing. Carefully chosen indigenous endemic grasses are planted on the roof in roof trays that allow for easy maintenance. The mass of the soil improves the thermal qualities of the roof.”

The cabins were placed in areas where they’d have the lowest possible impact on the ground, and off-grid technology like dry composting toilets and purified river water eliminates the need for utilities. The effect of the complex is modern, but in a way that’s drawn from South African architectural history, and the pine will help them fit seamlessly into the environment as they age.

Have you ever seen a cabin that looks quite like this? Diagonal siding is pretty rare as it is, but for a modern getaway in Kvitfjell, Norway, Mork-Ulnes Architects created something that’s even more unusual than it appears at first glance.

The Skigard Hytte Cabin sits at the top of a mountain about 3,100 feet above sea level. Its high altitude and exposure means it gets a lot of snow in the winter, and as far as its owners are concerned, that’s not a bad thing. From November through April, they can put on downhill skis to reach the local market and return home using ski lifts, or use cross country skis to access hundreds of miles of trails leading to country lodges.

The rough facade of the cabin is made of skigard, a quarter-cut log traditionally laid out diagonally by Norwegian farmers as fencing. Not only does it help the cabin blend into its forested environment, it has a transformational quality. In the winter, the gaps in the siding fill with snow to give it a “new and softer expression.”

“The grass top of the cabin also recalls the traditional sod roofs, common on rural log houses in Scandinavia until the late 19th century. Listed by the local planning regulations as one of the few materials allowed for roofs (in addition to slate or wood), the fuzzy top, moving with the wind, helps soften the otherwise rigid rectilinear geometry of the cabin.  The cabin has a regular plan – an enfilade sequence of rooms in a row, following a central corridor – called Trønderlån in the Trøndelag region of Norway where Casper’s mother was born.”

“The architects have designed several other buildings on piers or raised foundations, like Moose Road (constructed on steel stilts to avoid severing tree roots) and Trollhus (lifted on concrete legs to protect it from snow), where they learned that it was an effective way of dealing with high snowdrifts and not needing to shovel the house out when the snow accumulates around doors and windows. Here, they decided to raise the cabin not just to have some protection from the elements while maximizing natural light and views, but also because they didn’t want to ruin the terrain with the earthwork required for a conventional foundation.”

Plus, almost every surface inside and out is clad in wood. Inside, “light and smooth solid pine paneling creates an intimate and cozy feel, offering few distractions to take the eyes away from nature outside.” All of the cabinetry and custom furniture is also made of pine, as is the open portal-like verandah in the center of the house.