Modest cabin in the woods steps lightly on a rugged landscape

Even a modest, sustainable building can have a big presence in a big landscape.

Bear Run Cabin at the north-western foothills of the Cascade Mountains in the state of Washington, is such a retreat. But architect David Coleman says while the owners wanted their home to have a “presence”, it also needed to be subservient to the wild landscape (where bears run).

“In order to preserve the rugged landscape, we limited the building’s footprint to a 9m by 30m rectangle. Two buildings are juxtaposed within this footprint in a ying-yang fashion, leaving a sinuous exterior space that is defensible and varied.”

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The 82 square-metre cabin houses a family living area, bathroom and sleeping loft clad in frameless glass. All rooms open toward distant views of the mountains.

The 92 square-metre studio houses a music room, workshop and guest loft.

One of the most significant features of the exterior is the west wall of the studio, which is clad in a polycarbonate skin, bathing the interiors in sunlight during the day, and the exterior terrace in a dramatic display of light at night.

“The building forms are angular and elemental, not unlike the surrounding mountain peaks,” says Coleman. “The result is a dramatic building, deceptively simple, deeply rooted in the site and unexpectedly crisp and modern.”

And if you are wondering how the cabin got its name, Coleman says it comes from a particularly memorable experience the client had during construction, and yes it involved a bear. And possibly a fright, but we have no further details.

The house is designed to adapt to the seasons – in summer, the living areas expand outside onto the porches and terraces, while in winter the cabin is modest and efficient.

The western terrace is carved into the site, stepping down into the earth – it leads to a soaking tub set behind a glass wall. The south-eastern porch and “monumental” stair, both covered by a soaring roof, rise above the site, offering shelter from the rain and summer sun.

Coleman says the site is rain drenched in certain seasons, so he has created an interstitial “rain garden” – a place where the water can pool and flow toward the river below.

Sustainable features include geothermal heat, plantation-sourced wood, super insulation, and passive solar design. The cabin’s shell was built by a local contractor and finished by the client on a tight budget over several years.

This article originally appeared on stuff.co.nz