Delta Shelter
Mazama, Washington
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Design Principal
Tom Kundig
This 1,000-square-foot cabin is essentially a steel-clad box on stilts that can be completely shuttered when the owner is away. The 200-square-foot footprint of the house rises above a 40-acre, 100-year flood plain adjacent to the Methow River. The verticality, coloring and raw nature of the materials used for construction directly respond to the wildness of the setting. The owner sought a compact, easy to maintain, virtually indestructible building to house himself and his friends for fun and adventure in the mountains. With an exterior of steel, the house is virtually indestructible.
The cabin is composed of three levels: the lowest level is half carport, half utility/storage room; the middle level consists of the entry, two small bedrooms and bathrooms; and the top level is one large space which includes living, dining and cooking areas. Cantilevered steel decks extend from the top and middle levels and provide space for outdoor sleeping and entertaining.
The cabin is supported by four steel columns. Floors are 3-inch by 6-inch tongue-and-groove wood car-decking, and exterior wood infill walls are clad in 16-gauge, hot-rolled steel sheets with exposed steel fasteners. Most of the structure, including the steel structure, roof panels, shutters, and stairs, was prefabricated off-site, thereby reducing on-site waste and site disruption. Due to prefabrication and the use of plywood for all interior surfaces, typical construction wastage was kept to a minimum.
I edited the cabin down to the basics: wood and metal. The landscape seen from within is much more important than how the building is seen from the landscape.Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA
Team
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Design Principal
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Interior Designer
Debbie Kennedy
Awards
2008
AIA National Honor Awards, Honor Award
2007
AIA National Housing Committee Awards, Committee Award
AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Honor Awards, Honor Award
Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Awards, American Architecture Award
2006
AIA Seattle Honor Awards, Merit Award
Architectural Record: Record Houses, Record House
Residential Architect Design Awards, Grand Award
Publications
2020
Hermanson, Marissa. “8 Treetop Cabins Perched High Above the Earth.” Dwell, 24 Aug. 2020. Web.
Thakrar, Tina. “In Conversation with Olson Kundig.” Good Homes India, 20 Jul. 2020. Web.
2019
Houses: Extraordinary Living. New York: Phaidon, Jul. 2019, 206, 426, 438, 440. Book.
2017
小埠南岭生态城. “设计个随意门,将美景揽入怀.” Wzaobao, 4 Jan. 2017. Web.
“A cabin with river views.” Desire to Inspire, 10 May 2017. Web.
“Delta Shelter.” Dwell, May 2017. Web.
Fleming, Annie. “Top 5 Homes That Use Wood in Interesting Ways.” Dwell, 9 June 2017. Web.
Loker, Byron. “10 Cozy Winter Cabins in the Woods.” Dwell, 16 Mar. 2017. Web.
“Modern Cabin Designs That Are Breathtaking.” Impressive Interior Design, 19 Apr. 2017. Web.
Niall. “Cabin of the Week: Delta Shelter – Olson Kundig Architects.” Design Futz, 7 Jan. 2017. Web.
Simcoe, Jonathan. “10 Outstanding Prefabs in the Pacific Northwest.” Dwell, 2 June 2017. Web.
Williams, Allison. “Architect Tom Kundig Is the King of Cabin Porn.” Seattle Met, 15 May 2017. Web.
2016
“AS CASAS MAIS PEQUENAS – E MAIS BELAS – DO MUNDO” Green Savers. Nov. 2016. Web.
Combe, Liv. “Inside Washington State’s Steel Cabin on Stilts.” Dwell. 7 Dec. 2016. Web.
“Delta Shelter l Olson Kundig.” MODERNi, 10 June 2016. Web.
“Escape the City: The Top 10 Summer Retreats for Architects.” Architizer, 20 June 2016. Web.
2014
”Escape the City: The Top 10 Summer Retreats for Architects.” Architizer, 14 July 2014. Web.
“Size Doesn’t Matter: Big Ideas for Small Buildings.” The Architectural Review, 28 April 2014. Web.
2012
King, Victoria. “Delta Shelter / Olson Kundig Architects.” ArchDaily, 12 March 2012. Web.
“Top 100: Delta Shelter / Olson Kundig.” ArchDaily, 12 March 2012. Web.
Wright, Nick. “Shuttered in Steel.” Modern Metals, 8 May 2012. Web.