Curved Green Roofs Cover This Creekside Cabin

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves and curved green roofs.

MAP Architecture has shared photos of a contemporary cabin they completed in Suffolk, England, that’s located adjacent to the creek and reedbeds within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The ‘Creek Cabin’, with early stages designed by Jon Broome, started as an experiment on the possibility to create a low-impact home for future living whilst conserving the local flora and fauna.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves and curved green roofs.

The curved roof structure was necessary in order to create a building that is in keeping with the surrounding landscape and ecology. The roof was finished with a living green roof with an integrated irrigation system.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves and curved green roofs.

This is created using only straight sections of timber (engineered joists) to avoid an overly complex structure. The top of the timbers was boarded with three layers of 6mm ply which is easily bent to make the curved surface for the green roof.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves and curved green roofs.

The green roofs of the building have been conceived as a number of rolling ‘meadows’ which blend in with the surrounding fields and landscape and which also reduce surface water runoff and the risk of flooding.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves and curved green roofs.

The external walls at the first-floor level were constructed using Steico insulated joists, avoiding a thermal bridge through the structure, with wood fibre insulation fixed to the outside to complete the thermal envelope.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves and curved green roofs.

Situated within the flood risk zone, the building needed a flood-resilient approach to construction. To achieve this, the ground floor was designed with a solid concrete floor slab and brick and block wall construction.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves.

The first-floor cladding is Kebony, which is sustainable softwood with an environmentally friendly bio-based treatment that develops a natural silver-grey patina after exposure to sun and rain.

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves.

Additionally, the edge of the curved roofs includes a sloping underside to the overhang to create a ‘thin’ edge. The depth of the overhangs increases as the roof heights increase to provide the shading necessary to prevent overheating in summer

A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves.
A modern cabin with overhanging wood-lined eaves.

Window positions have been located to frame views of the adjacent wetlands and woodlands, providing different vistas throughout the year.

A contemporary cabin with windows that follow the roofline.
A round skylight in a contemporary cabin.
A round skylight.

The cabin has been designed to include an upper floor of living, dining, and kitchen spaces, a mezzanine with 3 bedrooms (one of which is a bed-sitting room with a balcony and separate external access), and study spaces, a utility room, and storage on the ground floor.

A contemporary cabin with wood accents and a fireplace.
A modern cabin with wood details and plenty of windows.
Wood stairs that have shelves with plants displayed.
The wood door of a cabin.
A cabin with a simple interior and a wood door.
Photography by David Valinsky | Design: Jon Broome (Lead Architect/Designer – Stage 1-3) and MAP Architecture (Lead Architect/Designer – Stage 4-6)

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