Award-winning Glass Cabin Is Nestled Inside An Australian Rainforest

Lifted into the canopy of a lush rainforest, this guest retreat offers stunning sights while having to pay homage to Australia’s architectural heritage. Retired journalists and owners Colleen Ryan and Stephen Wyatt tapped architect Harley Graham and his Byron Bay-based mostly structure exercise to understand the Concealed Studio, a breezy just one-bedroom addition that enhances the property’s two present buildings — the major dwelling and writer’s cabin — both equally built by the late “Sydney School” architect Vale Ian McKay. Sustainability was also a essential driver in the structure of the raised glass cabin, which has no air conditioning and depends solely on purely natural air flow.

Found on a 20-acre residence in Coopers Shoot Bryon Bay, the Hidden Studio delivers sweeping sights of the hinterland and Pacific Ocean further than. Measuring just about 540 sq. ft in measurement, the compact dwelling was conceived as a personal refuge, concealed from look at and “akin to a lifted cave or rock shelf, eaten out by waves.” Crafted with ground-to-ceiling glass and weathered steel, the cabin features a small-routine maintenance exterior that can be easily washed down when needed. Recycled h2o is made use of throughout the constructing.

Inside of, the visitor suite consists of a roomy bed room on the east conclude, as nicely as a toilet and an open up-strategy residing spot, kitchen area and dining area that opens up to an outdoor sheltered terrace. The inside is virtually completely clad in blackbutt hardwood conserve for the ceiling and lavatory floor. The timber can help give the glass cabin a feeling of warmth and balances out the hard exterior.

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In holding with the client’s ask for for an environmentally sensitive cabin, the architects adopted passive photo voltaic principles through the design method. The elevated visitor retreat attributes northern orientation, while deep roof overhangs defend the comprehensive-top glazing from unwelcome photo voltaic warmth obtain. The undertaking statement also pointed out, “The angled ‘crank’ in the portals helps make the roof appear to float over the pavilion, forming a huge protective plate and further more opening the space.”

+ Harley Graham Architects

Photographs by Andy MacPherson