Hasta La Ideas

This pod-shaped woodland retreat floats on a net between the trees in Dorset, UK.

American designer Jesse Randzio completed A Separate Place in 2007 with the help of twelve students from the Architectural Association during a month long workshop in Hooke Park, Dorset.

Above: photograph is by Paxo Paxton

Materials were supplied locally and the pod is made of red cedar planks which overlap in the style of a clinker boat.

Copper rivets pin the shell together and a steel chimney pokes through the roof.

The pod rests within a net attached to a metal ring that is in turn suspended from the surrounding trees using tensile cables.

Above: photograph is by Paxo Paxton

After climbing up the rope netting, a small elliptical door gives access to the intimate interior where a fire can be lit in the miniature stove and elevated views glimpsed out over the forest.

Above: photograph is by Martita Llorens-Echegaray

Swinging gently with the movement of its occupants, it almost feels like being inside the hull of a boat.

Photography is by Jesse Randzio,  apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

The AV Custerson Award was given annually to a member of the Architectural Association community to fund a project promoting the use of timber at Hooke Park. 2007 recipient Jesse Randzio, 3rd Year, organized a month long summer workshop to build a Separate Place, a hanging retreat in the forest.

The project was exhibited at the Architectural Association, London, in 2008.

A Separate Place is a red cedar sitting room for just a few people. There is no building footprint, only shadow, and so minimal site impact. It is tailored specifically to its location but adaptable to any. The door is high and very small, but once inside it’s a fine safe place; there’s a warm fire burning and tea in the kettle.

Jesse designed and built the 4½ square meter floating capsule with the help of a dozen students from throughout the AA. The group visited local industries in Lyme Regis and in Bridport to learn boat building and rigging techniques.

The pod is built of western red cedar in the style of a clinker boat, with copper rivets and trim, and a steel chimney and stove. The timber was felled in the Hooke Park forest, and other materials were supplied locally.

We suggest a future of AV Custerson Award projects that are continuously under examination. Every five years, matching the cyclical forest management plan, a project should be reevaluated and steps should be taken to address the relevance of each project and its relationship to other Hooke Park programs.

In this way, we can ensure that Hooke Park remains an active, vibrant, and productive facility. A Separate Place is coming into its fifth year and is due for reconsideration.