Arkitektfirma Helen & Hard, AS

Woodnest Cabin

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen

WOODNEST CABIN

Helen & Hard

LOCATION
Odda, Norway

 PHOTOGRAPHS
Sindre Ellingsen

ARCHITECTS
Helen & Hard

YEAR
2020

AREA
15 m²

MANUFACTURERS
aaneslandfrabrikker, nolimitation

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Reinhard Kropf, Dag Strass, Simon Bauman

STRUCTURE ENGINEER
Nordplan, Oddvin Myklebust

CATEGORY
Cabins & Lodges, Landscape Architecture

Text description provided by architect.

Stemming from the client’s wish to create a unique spatial experience that connects to both the ordinary and extraordinary sensation of climbing and exploring trees, our aim was to create a space that truly embodies what it means to dwell in nature.

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen

There were several challenging aspects of this small project.

The most challenging part was the premise we set ourselves. Being able to create a complete cabin only supported by one quite narrow tree, without additional columns or using several trees.

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen

Secondly how to create a climatized room around a growing, living tree.

Also, a rather unusual building application, governmental approval, and HVAC solutions were challenging.

The cabin is constructed around a steel pipe, cut in halves, and then attached together again around the tree with 4 penetrating bolts.

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen

This became a rigid "backbone" to build the rest of the cabin from. We use the bridge and two steel wires to fix the tree horizontally so that all the weight only goes vertically down the trunk and no excentric loads.

Around the backbone, space is constructed by double plywood ribs in a radial shape which defines the enclosed space.

The depth of the load-bearing ribs becomes the insulating layer around the nest.

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen

On the outside, the cabin has a protective skin of shingles of heartwood pine, which weather over time to merge and blend with the natural patina of the surrounding forest.

On the inside, the room is covered with panels from black alder which gives the space a refined, warm atmosphere.

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen

The steep forested hillsides around the Hardangerfjord above Odda is the location of two Woodnest treehouses. The architecture is a specific response to the topography and conditions of the site itself.

Inextricably crafted from nature, each treehouse is suspended 5-6m above the forest floor and fastened with a steel collar to the individual trunk of a living pine tree.

Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen


Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen
Woodnest Cabin
© Sindre Ellingsen


Woodnest Cabin
Section
Woodnest Cabin
Woodnest Cabin
Woodnest Cabin


Woodnest Cabin
Site Plan
Woodnest Cabin
Site Plan
Woodnest Cabin
Plan

Arkitektfirma Helen & Hard, AS
T +47 406 40672
Arkitektfirma Helen & Hard, AS
Erfjordgata 8, 4014 Stavanger, Norway