Private Cabin

‘The familiar and the unexpected’

Asked to design a new cabin within the context of a ‘family’ of pre-existing cabins built over decades, the design team started by understanding the particular existing character of those cabins. This project reinterprets the experience and character of a family of cabins by making a new dwelling that is both familiar and unexpected. The design approach was that new cabin would establish its identity and character by the way it uniquely responds to site and program conditions that have been experienced over the years from the existing cabins. It was a unique opportunity to expand upon the established character defined by the existing family of cabins versus how ‘new design’ responds to ‘existing design’. The design team noted a progression from the old true-log construction of the first cabin to subsequent evolutions of stick frame structures on site. The use of logs changed from primary building material to more decorative features over the years, which prompted the design team to look for news ways to interpret the construction of the new cabin in particular the use of logs.