Hideaway on stilts
Cabin Moss by Béres Architekten
Cabin Moss, © Courtesy of Béres Architects, Tamás Bujnovszky
"Measure twice, dig once” – Attila Béres and his client kept this in mind as they considered how to build the little cabin in a way that would protect the roots of the old trees at the woodland site. The design they arrived at in close consultation for Cabin Moss is rigorous and concise, namely a long volume with the sectional view showing two right angles, one of which is tilted to form a slanting facade almost perpendicular to the slope.
© Courtesy of Béres Architects, Tamás Bujnovszky
The owner and Attila Béres knew each other already from earlier projects. The new commission concerned a simple cabin on a woodland plot in Kőszeg, close to the foothills of the eastern Alps in Hungary. The hideaway was to be some 40 m² in size, offer a high degree of living comfort and yet do without anything that was not absolutely necessary. As staying small also meant dispensing with passages, the glazed entrance door leads directly into the living and dining area simply divided by a small bench.
Interiors
To save on space, built-in base cabinets run the length of the building, forming the kitchen unit in the living area, the washstand in the bathroom and a fitted commode in the bedroom. One room leads directly into the other, with the bathroom serving to both link and separate the living and sleeping areas.
Dark furniture contrasts with wooden surfaces. © Courtesy of Béres Architects, Tamás Bujnovszky
Materiality
The stringent fixtures are made of plywood-panels with a dark, rough surface reminiscent of coarse fabric and give the small cabin a spacious feel. The wood surfacing of the tilted wall and the ceiling form a contrast to the dark furnishings and create a warm atmosphere while revealing the material the cabin is built of: native coniferous timber. And since the building is thickly insulated, very little energy is required for heating and hot water, although electricity is used for the heating.
Cabin Moss is built from native softwood. © Courtesy of Béres Architects, Tamás Bujnovszky
On the exterior the cabin has grey render facades with just a few, well-placed glazed openings for the panorama window and the door. The small house turns its back on the road with a blank facade. To reduce the impact on the site as far as possible, the building is stood on a number of slender steel stilts in a solution that entails various advantages: for a start, it protects the roots of the trees, secondly it saves on shoveling snow in winter and thirdly it meant the client was able to dig the foundations by hand – a further characteristic of the woodland refuge being that the client built it himself with no further assistance.
Architecture: Béres Architects, Attila Béres
Client: Attila Hideg
Location: Kőszeg (HU)
Completion date: 2021
Gallery
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