An Off-the-Grid Retreat Designed as “a Piece of Furniture with Everything Built In”
Can you imagine living without chairs or a sofa? Dr. Sophia Shih recommends it. An emergency physician in Hobart, the capitol of the Australian island state of Tasmania, Shih spends her working life traveling to remote parts of Australia, and says she’s almost never in the shared apartment that serves as her base. For her rare weeks off, she wanted a rustic place of her own to retreat to, and had very specific thoughts about what that should and should not include, moveable furniture falling in the latter category.
Shih, 43, grew up in Taiwan in a Japanese-style house that gave her an appreciation for “highly crafted minimalist design”–and the ability to happily sit cross-legged at a low table eating, working, and reading. For her dream cabin, she set her sights on wild Bruny Island, off the southeastern coast of Tasmania, and, after acquiring 99 acres of land, mostly conservation forest, she approached architects Hugh Maguire and Dan Devine of Hobart firm Maguire & Devine about designing it.
Shih found the architects through a mutual hiking friend, and the three embraced the idea of a well-planned retreat, with, as Maguire puts it, “nothing extraneous to clutter the solitude.” Join us for a visual escape—and consider someday making the trek: when she’s not in residence, Sophia rents the property on Airbnb (scroll to the end for the link).
Photography by Rob Maver, courtesy of Maguire & Devine.
Above: “The design responds to Sophia’s desire for a place of renewal where she can engage in the simple pleasures of reading, playing violin, and star gazing,” write the architects. The house is fronted by a screen-like pergola with built-in storage for firewood and gas canisters. On arrival, visitors park their car here and gather these essential supplies for running the cabin.
“The site is completely off grid, and as such the cabin collects its own rainwater, is powered by photovoltaics and heated by a wood fire oven, while gas provides hot water and cooktop cooking,” explain the architects. “My work requires leadership and intensive communications,” Sophia tells us. “I hope it’s not hard to understand that I crave solitude and quietness when I’m off duty. And since I travel by plane so much, I’m acutely aware of being a polluter—and the importance of sustainable living.”
Above: The structure is clad in Zincalume metal (a material that references the area’s agricultural buildings) and merbau wood “providing texture and warmth to the touch,” say the architects. A dramatic view of the landscape is framed by the south-facing, large square window in the back of the cabin.
Above: East- and west-facing decks extend off the sides, “low to the ground removing the need for balustrades or any visual obstruction while allowing the edge to be used for seating,” say the architects. Both have sliding glass doors with lightly frosted glass (for privacy, a rice paper-like light, and visibility for birds); when open they “dramatically change the sense of scale, space, and connection to the site.”
Above: “Our brief was to design a building as a piece of furniture with everything Sophia needs built in. The only furniture allowed was a low table and mattress on the sleeping loft,” says Maguire.
The interior is just over 300 square feet. Baltic pine extends from the floor—strictly shoes-free—to the walls and ceiling, “creating a warm, cozy sense of enclosure.” The wood is finished with tung oil.
Above: The Japanese-style pine table was made for the space by Dare by Design. It sits on a raised platform inset with storage cubbies—things like roll-up futons and games go here.
Sophia keeps her violins on the shelf behind the table: “I play my music on the deck, and whether good or bad, the birds sing back.”
Above: The loft has a king-size mattress on the floor, with views out the horizontal window of the aurora australis, the southern counterpart of the aurora borealis. The deep window frame serves as a bedside shelf.
When Sophia has guests, they camp in tents on the property and use the cabin as the gathering spot.
Above: Central skylights further brighten the interior. The kitchen has a Zum Piccolo black granite sink and Milli Axon mixer faucet. The fridge is concealed under the counter to the left of the sink. The black compartment on the right is a firewood niche—the wood is collected from fallen trees on the surrounding forest.
Above: Black ceramic tiles create a hearth for the wood stove, a Nectre Bakers Oven that provides heat and also has an oven. There’s also a De’Longhi gas cooktop. The glass door in the background is the front entrance.
The gas heaters are concealed in the kitchen cupboards (as is a washing machine). Batteries under the floor store solar energy collected on the roof and used to power the lights and water pump.
Above: “The cabin is not quite carbon neutral,” says Sophie. “The water is harvested from rain (Bruny Island is known for its high rain fall) and powered by sun (it’s plentiful nine months of the year and we have just enough for over the winter). It currently has gas for hot water and cooking. However, the option of eliminating the bottled gas is possible by cooking solely on the wood stove and heating the water by attaching a wetback to it.” The cabin itself is highly insulated and the windows are double glazed.
Above: The bathroom is lined in Panaria Urbanature cement tiles, and has an Alape Unisono glazed steel basin and Dama Senso toilet. (There’s a septic tank underground and irrigation bed.) A concealed door off the entrance deck allow campers to access the room at night, and there’s even an outdoor towel rack for guests.
Above: Ultimate star gazing: the merbau-clad western deck is inset with a tub that disappears under wood paneling when not in use.
Interested in booking a stay? Go to Bruny Island Hideway. And for an entertaining video tour of the cabin, see Hunting for George.
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