Project Outline:
To create a calm studio on stilts, avoiding the annual garden floods and to nestle into the garden when seen from above and from the house.

Design:
The studio was designed to nestle into the existing garden landscape and dominant trees and create beautiful garden views. It was important to make the most of the sunlight and at the same time welcoming a real wood feel with no maintenance.

Build:
The build was transformed by using a steel frame with stilts to raise it off the ground. Using existing walls and being granted planning permission, we were able to collaborate with the neighbours to push it right back to the boundary, creating a new garden wall for them in the process.

We always anticipated the main window looking into the garden would be as big as possible. It was a breathtaking moment when we finally installed it. The contemplative connection to the garden was immediately apparent.

Introducing a fifth wall enabled some beautiful angles, which helped with softening the shape including the sedum roof. After a lot of R&D we found some wonderful cladding finishes on charred and brushed Japanese Cypress. Pica Pica was the best solution for the natural, no maintenance cladding finish from Nakamoto Forestry. For two of the sides we chose to use a recycled composite cladding from Envirobuild, adding some contrast to the warmth of the wood.

We chose to angle the stunning sedum roof towards the garden and house, so it could be enjoyed more from the house, highlighting the need to make a feature out of the hopper and downpipe from Rainwater Direct.

The interior was much simpler with no need for built-in furniture. We chose Osmo stained Birch plywood for the walls around the windows and OSB for the back wall and floor.

photography by Marcus Rowlands
video by ERD Visual Media