BK Cabin

Client Objective:
BK cabin is an accessory to BK House on a beautiful wooded site overlooking a meadow. Pre-covid my clients and I discussed building a separate screened-in-porch set into the woods which would offer a private getaway and an optimal view of the meadow and hills beyond. During the pandemic lockdown however, my clients found they needed more rooms for working from home and looked forward to expanded space for entertaining guests. As with BK House, we focused on the environmental impact of this new cabin and meeting the criteria of the local architectural review board.

Design Solution:
The early design process focused on how the cabin formally relates to the house and how it engages the hill. Once it was determined that a prominent roof line would mimic the house’s, I shifted the porch out and hovered it over the sloped landscape for feeling of floating above the landscape while enjoying the space. The cabin itself settled into the hill and the multiple program pieces (kitchen, bath, studios, living) fit snugly together in contrast to the open porch.

Feature Highlight:
I relied heavily on the vertical section to define the various spaces within the cabin’s small footprint. The oversized roof allowed for an upper-level loft which I expressed formally to the main level with a sloped ceiling/wall. I finished these surfaces with white oak slats and random-seeming LED tape lights. The slats open is a few sections to allow light and views to filter through. I will be forever grateful for the detailed skill and devotion TAB Construction put into crafting the loft’s underbelly.

Postscript:
An architect sometimes lucks out with supportive clients that stick with them throughout their career. Tanya and Mark are such clients for me. We’ve had four projects together over the course of almost 20 years. They bring so much to each project – research and commitment to sustainable strategies and products, as well as management skills to see the big picture and respect each small decision. Equally important is the trust they give to me to explore and stretch the design and to their contractors to do their best work.

lga’s team:
Lynn Gaffney, Gamyl Morin, Didi Medina
Contractor: Travis Balcom of TAB Construction
Finished photographs by Ben Rahn of A-Frame