‘You can really feel the forest’
This secluded little cabin just outside Seattle becomes one with the woods using walls of full-opening windows
This little riverside cabin was made for forest bathing.
“The cabin is so small, you can really feel the forest on all sides,” says Seattle, Wash., architect Tom Kundig of the retreat dubbed Tye River Cabin.
Located about 45 minutes northeast of Seattle, in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest that stretches from the B.C. border down to the Seattle area, the getaway home is named for the river it sits beside.
Its small footprint beneath a canopy of trees and bushes, and its wall-sized windows that throw the cabin open to the outdoors, combine to create the experience of forest bathing — the Japanese exercise of shinrin-yoku: making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the woods.
Kundig says Tye River Cabin’s design is a square broken into four quadrants that cover 1,200 square feet with a living room, kitchen/ bathroom and two bedroom areas. Each space is organized around the central chimney, which links the home together and serves as its anchor.
“It’s a very efficient design strategy, to build small and carefully, minimizing the living spaces,” says the architect.
Two staircases lead up to the little house, with a main steel stairway to the front door and a second, smaller concrete set of stairs leading up from a lower-level patio.
Deep overhangs shelter the main living area from the regular rain showers. Concrete patios extend the living space outdoors and follow the contours of the land toward the water.
Sustainable features include large overhangs that protect the siding and windows from rain and the wet, near rain-forest climate of the area. Repurposed wood salvaged from an old warehouse was also used in the construction of Tye River Cabin that took 18 months to design and build.
Tom Kundig, design principal with Olson Kundig architecture firm in Seattle, answers a few questions about Tye River Cabin.
What were the biggest challenges in designing this little retreat?
The remote site was a challenge. But the main design and construction challenge was the concrete chimney. It’s articulated and threedimensional, and we wanted it to be poured as a monolith.
The chimney is the hinge, in a sense, at the centre of the cabin — it’s a very important element that you’re constantly aware of inside, so it had to be very carefully done.
The client is a contractor and very skilled, though, so even the challenging pieces are in line with his expertise. The cabin is located beside a river in an area of Washington State that’s almost a rainforest condition, so the fireplace is an essential element for the client’s lifestyle.
The window gears and mechanisms look enormous — because of the windows’ size?
Yes, exactly. There’s a lot of weight on those windows when they move to the open position and cantilever over the forest floor.
You used wood from an old warehouse. Did you have any problems with it?
No, not a bit. Wood from old warehouses is absolutely superior wood — it’s old growth and completely usable in different configurations and situations for many years to come.
Harvesting and repurposing that wood is the best thing you can do from a materials standpoint, as well as being a sustainable design strategy.
Your project description for the cabin says your hope was that it would eventually blend and disappear into the forest. Has it?
I’ve visited many times since it was built. It’s somewhat hard to find, which is actually perfect, because it’s such a meditative retreat for the client and the guests that visit it.
Does Tye River Cabin achieve the goal of providing an outdoor esthetic?
Absolutely. You can really feel the forest on all sides.