Bird Hut
A mountain refuge in Windermere, British Columbia
Location Windermere, BC Size 100 sq. ft Status Completed
Status Completed
A place to nest
The birdhut is a treetop perch that sits on wooden stilts along a forested hillside. Immersed in the tree canopy, the hut accommodates two people, twelve varieties of birds, and whatever inquisitive critters come by to visit. In addition to being an inviting place for people to nest, the whimsical façade has twelve birdhouses that are each designed for various local birds that live in the mountains of the Columbia Valley, British Columbia.
Mimicking the process of a bird building a nest, the materials of the birdhut were scavenged from the immediate surroundings. The hut is nestled in a cross braced structure built of sturdy lodgepole pines foraged from a nearby forest recently ravaged by fire. The platform and cladding for the hut is made of planks reclaimed from an old cabin deck. A bridge connects the birdhut to the hillside and a stone path leads down to a natural spring and campfire on the forest floor below.
The materials, form, and orientation of the birdhut were designed to offer nesting opportunities for as wide a variety of local birds as possible. Considering both the largest and smallest varieties of local birds, the hut sits 9 feet off the ground, with its peak at 20 feet above the ground and variously-sized birdhouses scattered in between.
To give a sense of being immersed in the forest canopy, the roof of the birdhut disappears with clear 8mm polycarbonate panels. As a result, the space is passively heated by the sun, acting as a kind of greenhouse that is passively ventilated by two circle windows that axially punctuate the facade and the entry.
