A Metal-Clad Cabin Hovers Above the Forest Floor in Connecticut

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Project Details:

Location: Washington Depot, Connecticut

Architect: Scalar Architecture / @scalar_architecture

Year: 2022

Footprint: 1,200 square feet

Photographer: Imagen Subliminal / @imagensubliminal

From the Architect: "Built in an East Coast forest, a 1,200 square foot retreat for family of writers and producers is designed with a light ecological footprint. The site, which is accessible only by foot or small utility vehicle, was chosen in a sloped forest clearing punctuated by large boulders and limited top soil. To lessen the footprint, a compact box affords an engaging living and dining space, two bedrooms, a loft, and a southeast facing porch. A few large openings define this hovering box that adapts to a vegetated and rocky sloping terrain. One such opening is a concavity of the roof plane that collects water, light, guides ventilation, and further exposes the terrain. Except for the pier foundations and a leaf-resilient siding, the structure is entirely built with wood both nominal and engineered, and is heavily insulated with sustainable materials. The openings address the southern solar exposure, the northern and northeastern winter winds, and a local summer southwestern wind.

"Exposing a boulder on the ground, the courtyard or impluvium functions in a number of ways: It establishes a relationship between the indoors, the porch, and the forest; it produces a clearing for contemplation within the clearing of the forest for house; and, it elevates the process of rain and snow nurturing the forest by framing it, augmenting it by the surface of the roof, and, articulating all spaces around it."