Skip to main content

Salt Spring Island Cabin - Olson Kundig Architects


Bachelors Retreat - Tom continues his streak of wining cabin designs, Chicken Point, Tye River and now the Salt Spring Cabin. Minimalism, with a true Masculine feel to it. Solid RSJ girders forming the framework, and a heavy duty shutter mean this vacation box is locked up tight during the week.



Overview

Set on an island north of the San Juans, the exterior metal skin of this single room cabin will be allowed to weather naturally. Inside, wood-finished surfaces create a cozy refuge. A large, weathered steel panel slides across a window wall, securing the space when the owner is away. Tom Kundig

The cabin is harking me back to the simple lines and robust functionality I love. My realm of modern architecture.

Historically, the British Columbia cabin vernacular took materials in their raw state and moved little from them - stained log cabins, with barely the bark removed and flagstone bases.

The Salt Spring Cabin is in the same vein, but it takes raw construction materials and leverage their textures and durability. Usually (don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see the current Cortens binge) we'd see paint over the RSJs or a stain or three on the ply indoors, thankfully not in this case. Bravo to the client, who no doubt sought Tom out from precedence.

A singular structure, south facing, with great thermal mass, mean that the pot belly wood fire (I think its one of these) may not get much use in summer. The left and right doors to the rear though should provide good cross ventilation in summer, as with the front window when not shuttered up.
Winning a recent Residential Architect award the Judges described that fantastic door thus:

"The panel —operated by hand like a barn door— is commodity steel pulled off a stack before fabrication. Kundig, FAIA, let the lettering stand as “an authentic mark of its history and in the spirit of allowing materials to age naturally with no ‘protective’ coating that needs maintenance."

I'm off to see what other forest retreats are out there.....

Plan


Photographer: Tim Bies


Comments

Ana said…
Beautiful! What windows did you use?

Popular posts from this blog

Hiroaki Ohtani - Kobe Layer House

Hiroaki Ohtani Kobe Layer House Continuing the last posts stripy theme, which is about all these houses have in common, despite the Japanese link. This is Hiroaki Ohtani solution to infill in Japan. The house is made up of pre-cast concrete strips, stacked unevenly to allow stairs, furniture and floors to be inserted in the gaps. It's tight, claustrophobic, yet entirely open. There are no internal doors, apart from the sliding doors to the toilet. Passing the tree in the courtyard, that brings irregualar form to this oterwise linear exterior, you enter on a landing, where you can either traverse to the bedroom, or head downstairs to the basement where a formal dining room and bathroom are housed. Climbing up you reach the living room and galley kitchen with a steep set of stairs taking you to the roof deck, of which half is a glazed panel to bathe the main stairwell with light. The front of the house is a larged glass panel to let more light into the house and the r

Lund Hagem - Cabin Ameln

Lund Hagem , based out of Norway have a fantastic site, and collection of baches. Cabin Ameln, a providing sheltered BBQ retreat, and views out across the fjord. Contour hugging hunkered in design, connects with the site while minimalist layout and crisp finishes set it apart from your ordinary weekend retreat. Location: Østerøya, Sandefjord, Norway Size: 90 m2 Completed: 2009 The building sits in sloping terrain in close proximity to the sea. It has been designed to create favourable, screened outdoor areas. Previous buildings (4 in total) have been demolished and replaced with one new building that collects all functions under one roof. The L-shaped layout uses steps to follow the terrain so that the building can utilise existing vegetation and trees to avoid visibility from the sea. This layout creates one upper and one lower outdoor area/patio. The upper patio has been duly screened from the seafront, but offers views through the building due to glass walls. I think I've fo

Murray Cockburn Partnership - Kohara Lodge

Murray Cockburn Partnership Kohara Lodge Of middle earth - Murray Cockburn has created a true hideaway. Kohara Lodge, of local schist stone and sedum roof, sits in quiet vigil above the Shotover river. Oh, and it's a holiday let. Overview Kohara Lodge has been built with environmental considerations in mind. The owners' main aim was to put the land back to the way it was once building had finished hence the design of the property incorporating the natural hillside, and re-planting the grounds with native New Zealand trees. The architect's vision was to replicate the natural environment as much as possible. To this end natural schist stone from a local quarry was used and this was dry laid as much as possible and dry stacked. Recycled railway timbers have been used on the outside of the property and there is no paint anywhere on the exterior of the house. The windows at Kohara Lodge all have Comfort glass to prevent glare and reflection, built in UV protection and double