Title: 28/22 Cabin
Location of Proejct: Brevard, NC
Project Completion Date: N/A
Firm Name: Harding Huebner

Short Description: Designed for an active family as a mountain getaway, the cabin’s form and footprint was directly informed by the steep slope and desire to minimize the disturbance to the forest. The solution offers connections to the landscape from each level by organizing the flow vertically to capture treetop views and privacy above while also providing direct access to the forest floor at the lowest level. Naturally patinated materials were chosen for their resilience, to allow the cabin to age more gracefully over time, and to blend with its environment.

Architect's Statement: As a design team and with the clients, we thought a lot about some of the essential qualities one remembers and values in the experience of a mountain retreat: concepts of simplicity, scaled spaces for taking time to rest, spending time with those you love, and watching time pass. On many levels, escaping to a cabin in the mountains is about the notion of recalibrating oneself to the rhythms and cycles of a life lived more in harmony with the natural world. What emerged from that were a series of ideas, moments and experiences that helped shape our priorities in the design of 28/22. Here are some of them.

Embracing the idea that even the first approach to the cabin is an act of separation. Preferring to park the car farther away to minimize disturbance on the land and acknowledging that even the first walk to the cabin is an experience of anticipation to be valued.

Believing that we both need and want prospect as well as refuge. Openness and privacy. That the cabin itself could serve to choreograph a series of unfolding experiences. Arrival within a lower scaled covered entry offering protection towards the hillside, to a gradually expanding sense of experience as one is led up a partial flight of stairs to a 2 story glass living room. There, the verticality of the trees align with the volume of the space and accentuate the experience of both being fully within the natural environment and also perched above it.

Connection to the land, views, light and shadow through large glass openings, believing those were more valuable than just having more square footage. To that end, we sought to touch the land as lightly as possible by restraining the footprint to its minimums and embracing movement up and down the stairs to to the various bedrooms as positive acts, versus ones to be avoided.

In summary, we sought to have the cabin and the architecture defer to the landscape, set the stage for experiencing the mountains more fully, and be a vessel to support the cherished value of making timeless family memories together.