Text description provided by the architects. Our practice explores how architecture can develop a symbiotic relationship with its surroundings. In this project, a cabin that is a retreat from the intense experiences of urban living, we found a number of ways to develop this ecological model. We started with a strict set of site rules that govern the design and construction process. The most important rule is that the previously undisturbed site full of mature Douglas fir and cedar trees, some up to three feet in diameter with a dense marine underbrush including salal bushes would be left as undisturbed as possible. Secondly we focused on structural and material systems that not only reinforced the primary idea about non-disturbance but also took its clues from the efficiency of natural systems, primarily driven by lightness. Lightness talks not only of efficiency and conservation but perhaps a more esoteric idea that lightness can be an elevation of spirit brought on by a rich connection to site. Finally to address our needs for thermal comfort in this temperate environment we split the uses into two distinct zones one exposed and one protected, providing a way to enjoy the sensory experience of the forest but to have a warm protected refuge from it as well.
