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All Photos/exterior/roofline : flat/building type : cabin

Exterior Flat Roofline Cabin Design Photos and Ideas

“Initially, we proposed fewer glass panes to control sunlight and energy loss,” says architect Daniel Iragüen. “But in the end, we made the house almost completely transparent.”
The house is partially off-grid, with all water collected on site and all sewage treated and disposed of on site.
Arriving at the cabin is now a joyous ritual. “Every time we push the gates back and see the view it’s this sense of ‘we’ve arrived’,” Matt says.
The cabin hovers over the site on stilts, giving it a floating effect.
Seattle firm Wittman Estes designed this 1,300-square-foot cabin, which floats above a meadow on Whidbey Island.
Seattle firm Wittman Estes designed this compact cabin floating above a meadow on Whidbey Island.
Floor-to-ceiling glazing and a linear skylight help welcome the landscape within the cabin’s small footprint.
The exterior’s concrete walls pick up on the tones of the rocks that emerge from the surrounding hillside.
A covered boardwalk connects the mudroom and guest bedroom structure (left) to the gathering pavilion with the living room, kitchen, and dining area (right). The boardwalk in the foreground leads to the primary bedroom cabin.
This 530-square-foot prefab in East Sussex, England, was designed by Michael Kendrick Architects for a family who wanted to build a woodland retreat/rental on their property. Immersing the lodge into the forest reflects the family’s intent to, as the architects explain, “enhance the ecological biodiversity of the area, protect wildlife, and enable guests … to understand and appreciate the fauna, flora, and unique history and nature of the area, while supporting and promoting the local economy.”
In the midst of the pandemic, a family leverages industry connections and modular construction to quickly rebuild a cliffside getaway on a fire-ravaged site in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.
The home features a combination of interior and exterior living spaces that afford privacy to the occupants. “There are social spaces for everyone to be together, but also spots outside the building where people can have a private coffee—and that’s so important,” says architect Line Solgaard.
The home is perched lightly on the site and the landscape has been integrated into the architecture through a sympathetic form and materiality, and the expansive windows. “We long for this untouched nature,” says architect Line Solgaard of the site. “It brings us calmness and maybe even helps us be more in touch with ourselves.”
The charred cedar exterior gently basks in the Alaskan sun.
Fifteen years ago, the “rickety” cabins that the family had built over the years on their lakeside property were reassessed as lakeshore homes, and the family’s taxes soared. They decided to subdivide the lots—they sold two, and three of her brothers took lakeside lots, while Diane and another brother took back lots. The old boxcar has been preserved and encased in one of her brother’s lake homes. “I didn’t want to build a lake house,” she says. “I wanted to give my grandchildren the old boxcar experience of freedom and simplicity. I wanted them to be able to hear the wind, feel the rain, and be one step from nature.”
The goal was to be able to squeeze a full bathroom, kitchen, living room, storage, as well as a sleeping space that would accommodate a king-sized bed into the cabin's original tiny footprint.
Both cabins are elevated on wooden pillars about 260 feet above sea level.
The 1967 beach house—which underwent a meticulous renovation by Bates Masi, the original architect’s firm—is listed as an exclusive holiday rental along the coast of Long Island in New York.
The rollable wood-clad walls help the retreat further blend into the surrounding nature.
The Luoto sauna-cabin is perfect for lakeside settings where its full-height window provides unobstructed views, and its slim profile blends in with the surrounding shoreline.
At the center, the two volumes are separated by a wood deck that overlooks a large lake called Ruotsalainen.
"My goal was to carry on the client’s family legacy by creating a very special place that took inspiration from the landscape,” explains architect Tom Kundig.
3. "Can I afford the payment on the home?"

"Although lenders are not handing out money as easily as they did in 2006, it's very important to know that you can afford your house payment and live your life in other areas,” states Hoffman.
Perched on a steep hillside, the Matanzas Maralto Cabins blend into the rugged landscape of Navidad, Chile. The two cabins—both of which are available to rent on Airbnb—are elevated on wooden pillars about 260 feet above sea level.
The cabin’s exterior is mounted with rain-screen panels, which the students created using waste materials from the CLT-production process.
Designed and built by a group of students in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Voxel allows its residents to operate self-sufficiently for 14 days.
Located within walking distance to the coastal village of Matanzas, the two Maralto cabins are named La Loica and La Tagua after local bird species.
The outdoor lighting is powered by solar energy.
The petroleum-treated reclaimed oak cladding was selected for its corrosion resistance and its rustic look, which helps the cabins blend into their surroundings.
The 269-square-foot La Tagua cabin, seen on the left, is set downslope from the 204-square-foot La Loica cabin and is connected to the main road by three flights of stairs.
Steep trails provide access to the beach. The famous kitesurfing beach Pupuya is a 10-minute drive away.
Winkelman Architecture delivers grown-up summer-camp vibes with this unassuming retreat on the coast of Maine.
The Bracy Cottage — Front Facade
The Bracy Cottage — Front Facade
Fed up with modern-day society’s obsessive pursuit of things rather than lived experiences, Michael Lamprell, the designer of this cabin in Adelaide, Australia, set out to create an antidote to what he quips is a “craziness we’ve brought upon ourselves.” In 160 square feet, CABN Jude  includes space for a king-size bed, toilet, shower, heater, two-burner kitchen stove, full-size sink, and fridge. The interior is clad with light-colored wood, which helps to enhance the sense of space. Large windows bring plenty of natural light, while the clever design means everything the resident needs is within easy reach.
David has built a number of screens and fences around the two cabins to increase privacy. "We now have a good feel of rustic isolation," says Diane.
The logs stacked between trees give the cabin a wood supply for the wood burning stove which can heat the whole place in winter and cuts down on electricity. "The guys are out chopping and splitting wood every visit," says Diane.
The breezeway between the main cabin and the summer porch acts as a third living space in the summer and on mild spring and fall days, linking the separate structures. “The walls slanting over the breezeway create an implied arch between the cabin and the summer porch, lending a sense of intimacy to the heart of the house,” says Diane.
“It was very important to me that the cabin be low to the ground,” says Diane. “I love the forest floor and the sway of our huge ponderosas, so I wanted as little disruption of the natural ecosystem as possible—a request which our builder, Trevor, honored admirably.”
Diane—who taught art history at the Alberta College of Art and Design—adapted a Japanese design for the Moongazer, and her husband David designed and built the clerestory roof. “The cabin is cedar, somehow perfectly proportioned and a fantastic little spot to be,” she says. “On the strength of that, I figured I could do it again.”
Diane Douglas’s family has owned five acres of land by the lake since 1933, and her grandfather had dragged an old boxcar to the side of the lake by tractor. “When we came as kids, we’d turn off the paved road and drive on a dirt track through a ponderosa forest to the lakeshore,” she says. “I couldn’t wait for that first scent of pine.”
The firm wanted the materiality of the cabin to be "in harmony with the site," says Shaw. "So, that over time, the building could weather gracefully and the site around it would change, and they would do so in tandem."
The materials were kept simple: a foundation of board-formed concrete that reveals the wood grain of the boards used to make it, Cor-Ten steel siding that will develop a characterful patina, and rafters made of hemlock, a local species. "In terms of materials, we wanted the full exterior of the building to be something that would weather gracefully, that required very little maintenance, and that had a long life cycle," says Shaw.
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