A Distinctive Contemporary Cabin: Designed for Living Lightly
At Life Space Cabins, we’ve always known one thing — we don’t do boring.
From the beginning, our ambition has been to collaborate with clients who are imaginative, strong appreciation for architecture and detail, and eager to push the boundaries of what a cabin can be.
A One-of-a-Kind Architectural Vision
Our clients approached us with a dream: to create a contemporary cabin that would serve as a summer house. Perched above a Cornish creek with sweeping countryside and river views. More than just a retreat, it needed to be a space of calm, beauty, and year-round usability, one that would integrate with the primary home yet feel completely its own.
From the outset, they shared our passion for thoughtful design and high-quality architecture. That spirit of collaboration led to a refined and original outcome: a low-profile, pavilion-style cabin with a cantilevered sedum green roof, steel structure, glass walls, and a wide veranda, all nestled naturally into the landscape.
The Brief: Light, Connection, Simplicity
The cabin had to be:
- Architecturally designed, with natural materials and contemporary character.
- Off-grid, except for an electrical supply from the adjacent outbuilding.
- Visually open, with large openings to frame the landscape and blur the boundary between indoors and out.
- Secure and low-maintenance, with manually operated shutters to protect the building when not in use.
- Bright and minimal, with a whitewashed timber interior to maximize light and create an inviting, restful space.
Structure & Orientation
A key innovation was the cantilevered steel frame, which allowed us to eliminate columns at the front of the cabin. This meant we could install fully folding doors on one corner and a dramatic glass-to-glass corner window seat on the other, creating a seamless visual connection to the surrounding nature.
The cabin sits on the footprint of the old summer house, perfectly orientated to capture long views over the creek and rolling countryside beyond.
Materiality with Meaning
Every material was carefully selected for both performance and visual harmony with the environment:
- Exterior: Pre-weathered vertical Douglas fir battens wrap around the steel frame, while top-hung timber shutters match the structure’s rhythm and durability. Two end elevations are clad in Decarock natural slate, paying homage to Cornwall’s slate heritage.
- Roof: A deep, cantilevered sedum roof, installed by green roof specialists, visually ties the cabin into its landscape and conceals all rainwater detailing.
- Interior: Inside, wide white ash flooring (laid in random lengths) adds warmth and elegance. The same timber features in the window seat and custom cabinetry. A Contura 810L wood-burning stove, framed by matching Decarock slate chimney breast, anchors the living space.
Planning with Purpose
The site lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which calls for sensitive planning, timing, and design. The existing structure was a small, single-skin summer house that was no longer fit for purpose. The new cabin, while dramatically different in form and execution, was designed to sit lightly within its setting and respond to its unique context.
The Result
This project stands out as a celebration of balance, between lightness and strength, modernity and tradition, shelter and openness. It’s an elegant and distinctive cabin that lives lightly on the land, while offering its owners a joyful and deeply considered space to enjoy for many years to come.
