While made of wood rather than stone, and not quite pyramids per say (more like three-dimensional triangles), these designs are still inspired by the megalithic architecture of ancient Egypt in more than one dimension. Scalable sides are the innovative key here: hatches that allow access to each level directly from the climbable exterior shell.

Like its ancient architectural forerunners, these small-scale versions have scalable sides – in this case more manageable in size. Rather than a a stepped side/roof system, a series of intentional spaces in the exterior wood slats double as handhold and foothold slots.

Double-duty combination door-and-window elements (disguised as part of the roof surface) flip up to let in light, air and even people on all levels while leaving some areas more secluded than others. There is also potential for expanding these lengthwise to accommodate multi-family housing and/or larger-community functions.

Three floors accommodate a central guest/child sleeping level sandwiched in between the private top story (for master bedroom and bathroom) and public first story (containing kitchen and living room). The triangular taper works well with this concept, leaving less (and more-enclosed) space on each level progressing upwards to the top.

VisionDivision envisions each unit in its Peak Series catering to the climate of a particular country or region, with prefabricated variants suited from cold springs and hot summers, dry desert plots, wet water-side sites and snow-topped mountain-peak properties – the ultimate vacation home for any season or location you can imagine.

“Part house-part playground, the Peak series is a series of pre-fabricated summer homes by Swedish firm Visiondivision that can be placed in many environments. The Peak series homes are designed to promote close community and leisure.”

The interior of the Peak series cabins is divided into three levels. At the base is the main entrance and open social space with a kitchen and living room, above the ground floor is a loft space Visiondivision calls a mezzanine-like space that holds guest bedrooms. The top floor houses the master bedroom and a bathroom.”

“The Peak series different from other pre-fab homes is its unique wood plank façade design. The planks are left with spaces in between so the entire structure can be climbed and essentially becomes a giant jungle gym. Hatches open up from each floor so people inside can climb out and around on the exterior structure, as well as have convenient fire escapes and views of the surrounding environment.”

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Situated in the Sierra National Forest of California, miles above sea level, this gorgeous rustic modern vacation rental property boasts Yosemite as well as swimming holes, hiking trails,  rolling landscapes, waterfalls and boulders all around – an eclectic mix seen in the architecture of this structure as well.

At high elevations, shedding snow and deflecting moisture is a crucial roll of residential rooftops, hence the steeply-angled aluminum that shapes this triangular a-frame cabin. A matching communications tower plus outbuilding sits alongside the primary dwelling space. However, equal attention is paid to the rural surroundings, reflected in the use of rough, rusticated and weathered timber siding and deck-topping slats.

Standard modules are used throughout the prefabricated cabin to aid in the prefabrication process – 4 by 8 feet becomes the organizing principle when it comes to anything (plywood panels, metal siding, etc…) that can be cut and shaped to this simplified scale.

This kind of quaint abode is unlikely to win any awards, but not all good designs aim for such accolades – nor should they. Here it seems sufficient that the place serves its purpose, feels unique and responds to the needs of both renters and owners alike – namely by providing a fun experience and durable property. 

“Far Meadow is heaven for all of us who seek the call of the wild, and the remote places that shift our senses back to the natural essentials.”

“Brought to life by Boutique Homes founders and design connoisseurs, Heinz Legler and Veronique Lievre as ‘a simple retreat for chic nomads’, it’s so much more than that. It’s classic design where you’d least expect it. It’s escape without compromise or crowds. It’s adventure and carefree fun with friends (including the furry four-legged kind who are always welcome in our world).”

“Set within beautiful, unspoiled meadows high in the Sierra Nevadas, ringed by majestic forests, this cabin rental in Yosemite is both timeless and modern. A place of unplugged peace, where you can leave the world behind, embrace simplicity and marvel at nature’s amazing display.”

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A sort of futuristic floating treehouse hangs among artificial steel trees in a striking sculptural canopy at the Maison de l’Ecriture in Switzerland. Phoenix-based architecture firm Blank Studio envisions the ‘House of Writing,’ a small residence promoting and encouraging literary creativity. The dramatic structure looks out over the Alps, a lake and the surrounding countryside.

Designed in response to a competition sponsored by the Jan Michalski Foundation, a Swiss prize for literature, the writer’s studio nestles within an existing complex of steel pilots under an organically patterned canopy.

Within this canopy are scattered cabins which “‘left up their feet so as not to trample upon the garden,'” explains the architect of the Maison, Vincent Mangeat. “Writers who love solitude will find spaces for life and work. In all sorts of other places, they will find spaces for exchanges and for sharing life… with this, we believe that we have created a space that offers the ideal ‘climate for writing’ that Jan and Vera Michalski dreamed of as being central to the project.”

Blank Studio’s design includes a writer’s loft on the uppermost level to take advantage of the soaring views, and a lace-like stainless steel skin around indoor/outdoor spaces that collect and disperse the available daylight. The inside is lined with bleached birch wood and black-stained oak.

“Blank studio was invited to participate in this competition to design of a small residence or cabin to promote and encourage literary creativity. The residence is  suspended high above the ground by cables from an existing, open-weave concrete canopy to afford views to the Alps, the lake, and the surrounding countryside of western Switzerland. The dwelling would be for short-term stays, anywhere from one month to one year, giving the writer full access to the large adjacent library, auditorium, exhibition areas, and communal dining. “

“The proposal is a lean, glassy structure that is divided into three levels. The lowest level is for entry, food preparation and dining, and for entertaining guests. The center of the building is an open, thoughtful space, bordered by stairs that access the sleeping area on the next level, and ascend to the uppermost level where the writer’s loft is located, affording prominent, elevated views of the countryside. Internally, the residence is lined with bleached birch wood on the walls and ceilings, and black-stained oak for the floors and stairs. To respond to the existing buildings use of white concrete, we propose wrapping the building in a satin-etched, translucent glass and satin-finished, stainless steel to softly collect and disperse the available daylight.”

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On Scotland’s Isle of Man, a new country home by Foster Lomas expertly blends periods and materials for an effect that’s thoroughly modern yet very much a product of its environment. Set just down the hillside from an existing structure known as Cloud 9, the Sartfell Retreat was designed with utmost sensitivity to the landscape and vernacular architecture in mind. Cloud 9 is itself a local landmark, and its renovation was part of the building project.

“The client, a couple whose background combines biological science, medicine, and education, and who also share a passion for birdwatching, created a brief with a long-term strategy for the restoration, conservation, and management of the seven and a half acres of Nature Reserve on Sartfell Mountain,” explain the architects.

“Foster Lomas’ response to the site goes back to [our] research and experience of drystone construction whilst working in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Building on this vernacular technology, [we] have reinterpreted the local Manx stone structures to create an original building in a unique setting.”

The new home features a cast-in-place concrete core surrounded by thick, naturally insulating hand-constructed drystone walls. The stone — harvested on site while excavating the ground floor and cleaning up collapsed walls on the land — will weather over time and eventually become home to plants and lichens, allowing it to seamlessly blend into the landscape. A ribbon of glass stretches across the building’s facade, set back from the exterior to minimize solar gain while offering the inhabitants the same stunning views of the Irish Sea (and the local birds) they originally craved.

While the use of local stone makes the Sartfell Retreat feel like a natural extension of its landscape, its unique angled silhouette and sleek concrete-clad interiors give it an edge. An open plan creates visual connections between various parts of the interior, including a stunning library that spans three floors within an atrium-like stairwell. The new volume connects to the existing structure through a glazed corridor for a sense of cohesion.

Dedication to the site’s biodiversity and sustainability extends beyond the materials used for construction. The home also features a green roof “designed to carefully emulate the flora of the immediate area and complement the drystone walling,” ground source heating, a natural processing sewage system, and a wind turbine.

The owners plan to rent out Cloud 9 to fellow birdwatching enthusiasts while residing in the new addition themselves. Envisioned as a private nature preserve, the land will also host a visitor center and artist’s studio, both of which will also be designed by Foster Lomas.

The post Stunning Sartfell Retreat Brings Modernism to Rural Scotland first appeared on Dornob.

It took a lot to get here: three years, three tropical storms, and hundreds of artisans and builders, to name a few things. The clients had long admired the late Ricardo Legorreta’s recognizable style and hoped to someday build a house designed by his firm, which is now led by his son. Víctor dreamed up a 30,000-square-foot home that would slowly unveil itself to visitors piece by piece, leading from an unassuming hallway into a dramatic two-story interior courtyard with a reflecting pool and six full-sized palm trees.

“This sense of mystery is very common in Mexican architecture,” explains Legorreta. “It is an architecture about emotions, one that keeps you discovering as you wander through it. From there you go to smaller courtyards and gardens of even smaller scale that create special atmospheres for the more intimate spaces.”

Fulk’s intimate relationship with the clients and familiarity with their tastes allowed him to craft a luxurious retreat that’s so highly personalized it’s instantly iconic. First and foremost, there’s the main color: a shade of pink for which Ricardo — a modernist Mexican architect taught by the great Luis Barragán — was famous. Then there are all the custom accents, from encaustic cement tiles from Oaxaca to a streamlined linear fireplace by Kettal.

Overlooking the ocean, the home certainly isn’t lacking in views of water, but the architects and designer added several more water features throughout the property to give it the feel of an island in its own right. Fulk explains that he “went to great lengths” to perfectly match the shade of the infinity pool to that of the ocean outside to blur the line between them as much as possible.

Casa Grande boasts no fewer than 22 beds for its owners and their guests, with built-in furniture made from the same plaster as the walls giving it an easygoing vibe. Other features include whitewashed wide-plank wood floors, stone, and handmade textiles gathered from various travels around Mexico.

Fulk reminisces: “As the clients arrived to see their completed home for the first time, a mariachi band played in the courtyard while a troupe of dancers wearing long skirts embroidered with ‘Casa Grande’ glided down the staircase. Tequila shots (with tamer refreshments for the kids) and maracas were passed around. After a delicious dinner, as my birthday gift for the wife, the DJ turned up the disco music, and right on cue, hot-pink fireworks exploded in the sky, reflecting in the pools around the property.”

Photos courtesy of Douglas Friedman via Architectural Digest

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Artist Marcus Taylor sought a quiet, reflective retreat that could also serve as a part-time live-in studio. The property he purchased, which was set within the Colne Point Nature Reserve in the hamlet of Lee-Over-Sands, offered beautiful views of the surrounding peaceful waters and damp, scrubby marshlands, where redshank birds wade, bob, and call while standing on a single rosy-colored leg. It was perfect, except for one thing: the site became inundated with water every time the tide came in.

Surveying the land, Taylor spotted the sea forts, which are visible from the building site, and noted the presence of all the little redshanks among them. Together, these elements inspired the refuge of his dreams: an elevated one-bedroom home that becomes inaccessible whenever the water rises. To make such a design feasible, he conceived of a cork capsule that would bob on three legs. He then took that idea to his friend Lisa Shell, an architect whom he commissioned to replace the dilapidated existing timber-frame home on the property.

The result — dubbed “Redshank House” — stands on a triplicate of steel supports that have been coated in a special paint to withstand both the water and the salty air. Made with a durable CLT (cross-laminated timber) frame, the structure’s exterior cladding is wrapped in thick, fire-resistant, and naturally durable untreated cork, which will bleach over time from the sunlight. Two steel staircases stretch down into the sand and grass — or water, as the case may be, depending on the time of day.

“The idea of using cork started as a joke due to its buoyancy as the site floods at high tide,” Shell told Architectural Review, “but the more we explored its characteristics, the more appropriate it became.”

In the summer, the ambiance of the hamlet is that of a charming seaside town. In the dim and foggy winter, it becomes something harsher and much less hospitable. Paired with the area’s wartime history, these seemingly endless and ever-encroaching marshlands can conjure a sense of isolation that some might find alienating. For Taylor, however, it’s exactly the atmosphere he wanted — one that fosters privacy and the feeling of being distant from the chaotic world of human activity. Within the warmth of its oak-lined walls, with his wood-burning stove and oversized picture window, he can weather the storms outside and allow his mind to wander.

It may not be for everyone, but this tidal getaway demonstrates the value of working with environmental conditions instead of against them, following nature’s examples to coexist with its temperaments.

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Architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg is known for incorporating nature into his work, and Joshua Tree proved to be a perfect canvas for him. He used the large boulders around the home to augment its design, and the color of the roof blends in with its background. Talk about a home that stands out without standing out!

Kellogg started designing the “High Desert House” in 1988, finishing the labor of love five years later in 1993. “It is physically of the desert, a part of its surroundings,” says TTK Represents, the real estate company that last sold the home. “The strength of the hard and rugged protective shell exterior is drawn from the desert.”

Contrast that almost harsh exterior with interior designer John Vugrin’s comfortable style inside the house: “The interior is a warm, intimate space of flowing, organic shapes wrapping gently around its inhabitants,” TTK notes. “Light enters through continuous openings that separate the towering concrete panels. The textures provide the touch and feel of the desert, as details were meticulously selected from the desert.”

While the photos of the house make it look modest from the outside, it is in fact a spacious 4,643-square-foot building, complete with three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms.

“The property highlights the masculine and feminine forms that are the hallmark of organic architecture,” TTK says, and “organic” is undoubtedly the main component in all of Kellogg’s work.

“If it is not a love affair with Mother Earth, it is not Architecture,” Kellogg says on his introduction page for the Organic Architecture Charitable Foundation. “There should be as many original styles of Architecture as there are individuals.”

Kellogg is known as an innovator in the field of organic architecture, having built a variety of distinctive public buildings and private homes in both the U.S. and abroad. He is the creative mind behind the famous stone and glass chapel in Karuizawa, Japan, which is an overwhelmingly popular destination for couples looking to get married. He also designed the “Onion House” in Kona, Hawaii, and the “Lotus House” (or “Yen Residence”) in La Jolla, California.

Whichever Kellogg design you behold, there’s no question that you’ll always remember it. Need proof? Here’s a review written by someone who visited the High Desert House:

“Having seen this in person, I can attest to the utter breathtaking monument of organic design sprouting in a natural fashion reminiscent of a mushroom cluster,” reports Bruce Smith on Kellogg’s Facebook page. “Superlative after superlative can be stacked in a similar fashion as the boulders from which this incredible aesthetic massive dwelling seemingly grew into a life of its own.”

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The Serene Desert Villa Spa Retreat is a newly-designed, 30,000 square-foot resort situated just 45 minutes away from the luxurious city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Designed by an innovative team of passionate architects, the resort is a beautiful piece of modern architecture, constructed with function in mind yet styled immaculately. Described as a place of blissful peace and serenity, the spa is the ideal location for anyone longing to escape from the chaos of the city in a remote paradise.

Who are the Design Geniuses Behind It?

The Phoenix-based architects at SpaceLineDesign are the visionaries responsible for the creation of the Desert Spa Resort. Principal Architect Jeffrey H Page has thirty plus years experience developing amazing modern designs for all sorts of buildings and living spaces. Page has previously worked on vacation villas, boutique hotels, residential homes, offices, island resorts, apartments, and retail stores. The firm started off doing projects across the state of New York and has been producing stunning living spaces in desert environments since 1996.

Page has lived in Dubai with his wife and firm partner, Mahsa, since 2008, and the two have provided project consulting to clients in Arizona and in countries all around the world. The company has devised iconic projects in many international destinations, including New York, LA, Spain, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, India, Indonesia, Tanzania, Nigeria, and the Congo.

The company initially brings its designs to life in the form of detailed floor plans and creative 3-D video animations that allow the viewer to immerse themselves into its imaginary environments, providing them with a full 360-degree experience through virtual reality, or “VR.” The architects use 3-D modeling and a program called AutoCad to design their projects in VR in order to explore the practicality of each layout as soon as they conceive of it.

What Features Does the Spa Resort Have?

The Serene Desert Villa Spa Retreat consists of six luxury suites, an indoor pool, a steam room, a cold-plunge, a gym, massage facilities, a relaxing lounge area, a fire garden, and a 20-car garage for guests.

The main entrance is adorned with honed sandstone and artistic glass double doors, which are followed by a set of concentric planter steps. Once inside, you’ll find an indoor pool and a jacuzzi shaped like a tulip flower with a waterfall flowing down one end. The pool area’s teak wood ceiling absorbs the warmth of the sun to keep the room comfortable and dampen any echoes. The spa is also fully equipped with an indoor gym that boasts a three-station, 4-D bike ride cinema experience. It really doesn’t get a lot more futuristic than that!

How Do I Get In Touch With SpaceLineDesign?

If you’re interested in working with the SpaceLineDesign team, do not hesitate to contact them with your ideas for budding projects over the phone or via email. They strategize and plan accordingly to suit every individual client’s best interests, focusing on your aesthetic desires and accommodating the design to stay well within your budget!

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Outside and inside slide seamlessly together in this lovely little loft built of thick wooden beams, textured limestone floors and rough stone walls, all tied together by thin and unobtrusive steel members and spanned, when necessary, with crystal clear glass.

Designer Fernanda Marques’ core idea involved tying together a classic country villa with the rigorous Modernism of masters like Mies van der Rohe, weaving a series of boxy rectangular forms into their environment on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Wooden browns are a recurring theme, from wall-wide bookcases to smaller shelves, side tables, sofas, sheets,  blankets and cushions, both within and without the thick-walled central library space.

A heavy stone table, built-in niches, cabinets and bookcases also blur the boundary between furniture and architecture, projecting into and out of walls and adding a rich layer of variegated materials to the already-organic interior design.

From Architizer:

“After her resounding success of her in Casa Cor’s 2008 edition, Fernanda Marques now presents her 2009 version of her Loft 24/7. This time, in the form of a spacious bungalow, of about 250m², where nature plays much more than a mere supporting role: one just has to note the intense use of daylight. The use of materials in their rough state. Its total openness to the outside.”

“‘“Being inside feeling like one is outside. I believe that to be a key issue in understanding the interior design being produced today. In times when environmental awareness is growing, and, of course, also the desire to be close to nature’, explains the architect, who places her design somewhere in between a country villa and a modernist home designed by one of her masters, German architect Mies van der Rohe.”

“Combined with rough stone walls and limestone floors, steel and glass are not present just by chance. Altogether, the house is 180m², linked by a wooden deck which projects the house out beyond its internal boundaries. A kind of interface between the interior and the outer environment, glazed walls and ceilings ensure spatial continuity: one of the hallmarks of Fernanda Marques’s designs.”

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On the site where his grandmother’s house once stood in the woods of Longbranch, Washington, architect Jim Olson of Olson Kundig has built his dream cabin. A serene getaway in the mist overlooking the Puget Sound, the cabin has been continuously remodeled since Olson first began working on it in 1959, with the architect updating and expanding it about once per decade. The simplicity of the stacked-box configuration puts the focus on the retreat’s natural surroundings.

Cabin at Longbranch began as a 14-square-foot bunkhouse, built by Olson himself at the age of eighteen. Today, it’s a relaxing residence tucked among ancient fir trees, with steel columns supporting the exposed roof structure and fir flooring that extends beyond the glass to become outdoor decking. Olson stuck to simple, readily available materials.

Each time he makes changes to Cabin at Longbranch, Olson reuses and reintegrates materials from the existing structure, building up layers of weathered wood and metal that contrast with newer additions. Two main wings telescope out toward the water, nearly all of the walls glazed to blur the lines between outdoors and in.

“Strategically placed sliding doors, windows and a domed skylight over the bed provide constant contact with nature,” says the architect. “The design accommodates three mature trees that have been allowed to grow through openings in the deck, one of which exits through an opening in the roof.”

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A three-story modern vacation home butts right up to the edge of a glassy pond like a lookout tower, a small dock offering access to canoes for exploration. The Pond House at Ten Oaks Farm in Hammond, Louisiana takes full advantage of a serene natural setting with a glassed-in space overlooking the water, and an open-air terrace on the third floor.

Holly & Smith Architects created the net-zero retreat on a remote 15.5-acre property, collaborating with the clients for a tranquil getaway that honors the nearly-untouched nature of the land. A single-sloping roof directs rainwater into the pond and gives a set of solar panels optimal exposure to the sun. Spray foam insulation, high efficiency heating and cooling, energy star equipment and LED lighting help maintain a small footprint.

All of that glass lets in lots of natural light during daylight hours, and large operable windows enable cross-ventilation, opening the home to the outdoors. The overhanging roof juts out over the lower floors, shading them during the sunniest hours and providing privacy to the master suite.

A gravel path leads to a gazebo built out over the water, with porch swings and a hammock. Nearly everything is lined with warm wood, including the indoor/outdoor spaces. And at the rear of the home, translucent panels filter light and enable the entire structure to glow like a lantern at night.

“Since its completion, The Pond House has been generating instead of consuming energy,” say the architects. “Within the mission of creating a sustainable design, this residence is an example that proves energy efficient houses can be comfortable, luxurious places to live. The Pond House is a place where family and friends can come together. From swinging out by the lake, to hanging out on the terrace, or having an acoustic jam session by the fire, The Pond House offers many avenues of engaging in culture, adventure, relaxation, and observation inside and out.”

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The word ‘cabin’ is no longer quite so inextricably tied to visions of rustic discomfort, little more than wooden shacks dotting the woods, haphazardly thrown together with whatever materials were available. Contemporary architects reinterpret the forest retreat with cleaner aesthetics, modern materials and an eye for detail as well as craftsmanship. This geometric black diamond cabin by industrial design student Tomek Michalski provides a haven in a lush wooded setting, with a wood-lined interior that still has a cabin feel without being dark or overly rustic.

Nearly every surface inside is covered in pale plywood for a soothing uniform appearance. Two large glazed walls on the ground floor put the focus on the landscape, making the retreat into a sort of nature observatory as well as a place to rest or work on special projects. While they don’t provide much privacy, the seclusion of the setting makes this a non-issue.

The pointed roof of the cabin features an additional triangular window pitched toward the sky so sleepy inhabitants can gaze up at the treetops and the moon from the lofted bedroom.

More from Tomek Michalski

“My first architectural concept. The vision of the place to clear one’s head targeted at the individuals who need rest, seclusion from other people, the world and daily life. A cold, misty forest in the context of a warm space of seclusion is supposed to help and shape character, as well as invoke emotions and willingness to ponder. Both the building itself and the interiors will be designed to affect the flora and fauna as little as possible.”

About the designer

“Always been a freelancer who is trying to sort out his 3d world. In 2015, I finished studying Industrial Design at Institute of Industrial Design in Koszalin. The university has helped me gain sensitivity and get to know myself better through various faculties I have experienced.”

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A relaxing getaway conducive to creative thinking is just steps from an author’s back door with this lantern-like design tucked away in a fenced London garden. Designed by British studio Surman & Deane, ‘Writer’s Shed’ feels simultaneously cozy and wide-open thanks to its small footprint, wood stove, and glazed front wall slightly shaded by a vertical cedar screen.

The architects responded to the author’s interest in children’s literature and mythologies by creating a space that acts as “a haven in the city; a fairy-tale hut at the bottom of the garden where the client can retreat and immerse himself in his work.”

It may be accurate to call it a shed based on its size, but it’s not lacking in comfort and amenities. One wall is entirely covered in bookshelves, and a vintage desk is tucked into one corner. The interior is painted white to reflect all of the daylight that comes streaming in through the large north-facing skylight. A glazed sliding door leads out into the garden.

Cedar was chosen for the natural aging process it goes through as it’s exposed to the weather, deepening its beauty. The chimney, vertical log storage on the small veranda and cedar shingles give the mini retreat the feel of a woodland cabin.

Here’s a description from the firm:

“Weston Surman & Deane Architecture were commissioned by an author and illustrator to design and build a studio space in Hackney, East London. The design sought to satisfy the client’s need for a functional workspace, but moreover to create a building that reflected his passion for children’s literature and mythologies. Drawing on the historically intimate relationship between writers and their shed’s, the space was conceived as a haven in the city; a fairy-tale hut at the bottom of the garden where the client could retreat and immerse himself in his work.”

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Sometimes a design concept gets in the way of good design, but at other times, a generative idea can carry through to create a space both remarkable and livable – this structure represents the latter case.

What started out as a traditional idea of a horizontal home was given a twist, demanded by the beautiful site. The result was turned on its side and lifted up, creating a core series of levels and an expansive upper floor.

The building in question is a second home in Upstate New York by GluckPlus for one its own – Thomas Gluck – who wanted to take in the surrounding mountain views from something both contemporary, but, at the same time, matched to its setting. The home has a minimal ground footprint and reflective windows that blend the structure into the landscape.

From the architects: “This small vacation house is designed as a stairway to the treetops. Keeping the footprint to a minimum so as not to disturb the wooded site, each of the first three floors has only one small bedroom and bath, each a tiny private suite. The top floor, which contains the living spaces, spreads out from the tower like the surrounding forest canopy, providing views of the lake and mountains in the distance. An outdoor roof terrace deck above extends the living space above the treetops, offering a stunning lookout to the long view.”

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When we choose to get away from home, there are many different ways of going about getting some relaxation. Some folks choose a luxurious retreat where everything is taken care of for them from the moment they arrive. Others choose a slightly more rustic, but still remarkable, getaway.

The Delta Shelter from Olson Kundig Architects was designed as a weekend cabin. It is small by some standards – a mere 1000 square feet – and sits directly on a flood plain close to a river.

Because of the risk of flooding, the house is raised on stilts. According to the architects, it can be thought of as a steel box on stilts – but we’ve never seen a steel box look quite this alluring.

When the owners are away – or when threatening weather approaches – the entire house can be shuttered, protecting it from the elements and from possible floods. The shutters are easily opened and closed via a hand crank inside the house.

The home sits on an impressively tiny 20′ X 20′ footprint. Its rooms are stacked on atop the other, with the living room/kitchen occupying the top level and offering some lovely views of the surrounding area.

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