Hide

It can be seen as a ‘place of escape’ creating a calming and holistic space. The name - Hide - is taken from a bird hide, an often sheltered, camouflage structure, that is used to observe wildlife at close quarters.

The design borrows ideas from its natural surroundings, a considered approach to what a temporary shelter could be and the function it provides. It was therefore important to use symmetry as a balance to create calmness to the space, framing views across the expansive woodland in a deliberate way to enhance the simplicity and minimalism.

The cabin is a small space and so each surface was well considered with a purpose and function. A large opening to one side forms the main shelter with a tough robust upper canopy roof. The front framed view acts as a multifunctional crafted piece of joinery and doubles as a seat which folds down, creating additional places of pause on the outside of the structure. A suspended cube within a lightweight structure, akin to a bird's nest within a tree branch.

The structure has been designed to be fully demountable and relocatable to alternative positions in the woodland. The location, far from an access road, dictated the decision to pursue a ‘flat pack’ design.

Each of the façade panels are pre-constructed and slot together on site within the main structural frame. This frame acts as a mounting support that can be tailored to suit the varied underlying topographical conditions. Each panel is then fixed in place with pre-drilled holes, minimising the construction noise and can be flat packed and transported by hand or by a small cart.