Live-Edge Siding Covers This Prefab Cabin in Upstate New York

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Project Details:

Location: Dutchess County, New York

Architect: nARCHITECTS / @narchitects_pllc

Footprint: 2,150 square feet

Builder: UCE Fine Builders

Structural Engineer: Silman

Civil Engineer: T.M. DePuy Engineering & Land Surveying

Metal Fabricator: 4th State Metals

Photographer: Michael Moran / @mmoranphoto

From the Architect: "CLT House is built in a forest clearing in upstate New York. Aiming for a light touch on its natural site, the 2,150-square-foot house was built with cross-laminated-timber (CLT) panels, installed in 11 days. Geothermal wells pair with a radiant floor system to provide heating and cooling, while solar panels generate more than enough electricity.

"As a renewable material that is gaining traction in the United States, CLT is an ecological building system that also provides a warm and natural feeling. The project balances this comparatively recent innovation—expressed monolithically on its interior—with the oldest exterior wood cladding technique used by early settlers. The live-edge siding that wraps the faceted volume of the house will weather variably over time, depending on its orientation and canopy coverage from trees. Meanwhile, custom metal fabrications introduce accents of color, via the staircase, surface mounted light ‘vines,’ shelves, and kitchen island.

"On the first floor, living, dining, and kitchen areas are organized as a continuous space around a central core containing a bathroom and the mechanical room. The second floor, organized as a plus sign in plan, consists of a study, three bedrooms, and a second bathroom. The resultant double height spaces mark each of the four corners, with a woodburning stove anchoring one corner. Skylights, clad with mirror panels on the interior, punctuate three of the corners, injecting shafts of real and reflected daylight within, like the hand of a clock rotating around the core throughout the day."