Simpson
Retractable Walls and Concealed Bedroom & Tub
In the embrace of nature, the quotidian becomes extraordinary. As we increasingly live in urban environments hemmed in by concrete and glass, we often lose touch with our primal connection to the environment. An innovative architectural marvel looks to change that, urging us to reimagine our living spaces not as a barrier but as a portal to nature.
“Right now, everything around me is alive,” says Caspar Schols and the actor of the radical design. The structure, a revolutionary house designed to embrace the environment, is a testament to the undiluted human potential for innovation and connectivity. Much like a magnifying glass, it brings us closer to our surroundings and illuminates our place. In contrast to the standard architectural confines that limit our experience of the living world, this dwelling facilitates an active and vivid communion with the environment.
This might seem bizarre in an age when most spend 95% of their days indoors, often in static and lifeless spaces. However, we know that trees emit signals, connect with animals, and that ‘forest bathing’ can significantly benefit human mental health.
Isn’t it a bit strange, then, that we find it odd when we get depressed or anxious when it’s evident that we’re cutting ourselves off from such vital connections?
Looking out of the window of this extraordinary house, the vista is an awe-inspiring testament to the power of design to accentuate natural beauty. The dwelling is an attempt to immerse ourselves more fully in the world outside our four walls. While one could indeed simply take a mattress and a sleeping bag outside, the dynamic of moving an indoor space outdoors creates a unique and transformative experience.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of this house is its ability to adapt to the elements. The walls are maneuverable, allowing one to physically interact with the environment, influencing the climate inside the house. With walls weighing 3000 kilos that operate on ultra-low friction rails, one can exert their muscle power to create a flow between the indoor and outdoor spaces.
Despite its weight, equivalent to that of a car, the transition is surprisingly smooth. “It’s like a ship, you know,” says the homeowner, referring to the momentum required to move the structure. The space inside, 30 square meters or approximately 300 square feet, morphs from a cozy, double-layered glass enclosure into a spacious outdoor area with a folding bed and a hidden bathtub, offering a radical change in living experience.
You start an active relationship with the environment by opening up your home to the elements. When it starts raining, for example, you might close the glass and then reopen it once the weather clears up. The house encourages you to become more perceptive and more involved with the world outside your door. It invites you to live and sleep in the open, with the highlight being a bath under the open sky.
The bathtub, hidden under the floor, epitomizes the attention to detail that has gone into the design. The panels around it overlap to prevent dirt from falling into the bath, and water splashes are routed through drains, ensuring the bath remains clean and dry. The focus is on creating a serene, undisturbed environment, an oasis of calm amidst the bustling world outside.
The house’s design draws inspiration from Japanese architecture, where the floor serves as a multifunctional space. Also, many house elements are inspired by boats, known for their clever utilization of compact spaces and their robustness against the elements. Indeed, the house’s owner views it as a “land boat,” a vessel to connect with the natural world.
Behind this innovative project is a physics graduate passionate about architecture. He began his architectural journey by designing and building a cabin for his mother, which was well received. Since then, he has built nine more cabins, each iteration better than the last. He aims to make the cabin livable and an ideal dwelling, suitable even as a first house.
Fully off-grid, the cabin has a wood stove to heat water in winter and solar energy for summer. It also includes a refrigerator, a gas stove, a sink, and enough storage space for cutlery and other kitchenware. The space-efficient design also consists of a bathroom clad in stainless steel, a shower, and even an outdoor shower in the new model.
The cabin can sleep four, making it suitable for a small family. A mechanical vent cools the cabin, and the double-glazed windows meet building regulations, making it suitable for even colder climates. One particularly clever feature is the wind labyrinth in the rail system, which prevents wind from entering the building.
In conclusion, with its transformative design and impressive adaptability, this incredible home represents a whole new way of living. It’s a house and a lifestyle statement that urges us to embrace our surroundings and live harmoniously with nature. It’s the perfect blend of architectural innovation and environmental awareness, a beacon for future living spaces.
As we move towards a more sustainable future, perhaps the answer lies not in towering skyscrapers but in harmonious, adaptable dwellings like this, where the line between the indoors and the outdoors is effortlessly …to the floor, so that’s for me is like one of the best inventions ever like we never thought of this that like a rail could be a windbreaker. This labyrinth in the rails, the windbreaker, is one of the brilliant strokes of thought that make the cabin a masterpiece of innovative design.
With a design approach rooted in his background in physics and technology, the cabin’s architect has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of how a living space can function and interact with the natural world. As the architect recounts, “I did a master’s degree in physics, and I worked for a technology company. But I always had this love for architecture, and every year I studied physics, I still had this urge to do something with architecture. At some point, I talked to my mother, who said she was thinking of buying this prefab little house for her land in the forest. I thought, okay, what’s your budget? Why don’t you hand over the budget to me, and I’ll design it?”
The first cabin, built for his mother, was a labor of love – a personal endeavor where the architect was aided by his three older brothers, who sometimes took a day off to help him. His mother had expressed a desire for a little house in her backyard as a hobby space for working on a book and sleeping under the stars. This ignited the creative spark that gave birth to an innovative solution for bringing the outside in.
The architect didn’t stop there. He explains, “After we met, I built another nine. Everyone is a little bit better. So, you’ve been trying to make it more livable. That’s it because I wanted to be where this can be your first house.”
These cabins, designed to be fully off-grid, function with a boiler connected to a wood stove for heating the water in winter and solar energy for summer. Additionally, there is a battery to store the energy for later use. From a compact kitchen with a refrigerator, gas stove, and sink, to a cozy, wood-clad shower space, the cabin has every amenity necessary for comfortable living. The attention to detail is such that even the toilet is stylishly clad in stainless steel for easy cleaning.
The architect elaborates, “These are hinges from a boat. Many of the details are inspired by boats. Boats are very smart with space, needing to be compact, high quality, and durable. You’re out at sea, dealing with salt, sand, wind – we wanted to make something very robust. I really like to see this cabin as a land boat.”
These cabins are also designed to give inhabitants the full experience of being in the open air, in connection with nature. The upstairs bedroom space, for example, features a large window, complete with a mosquito net, letting in natural light and a view of the sky. Even the rails of the cabin are a triumph of design, featuring a ‘wind labyrinth’ to prevent drafts.
Innovative, functional, and fundamentally transforming our relationship with the natural world, these cabins represent a leap forward in sustainable, environmentally-conscious architecture. They challenge our conventional understanding of ‘indoors’ and ‘outdoors,’ offering a new way to live and interact with our environment.
Source: Faircompanies.com
