The speed of the build and comfort level inside were key factors for our clients when building their guest house.
When Guy and Christine moved to picturesque Armidale in New South Wales, they fell in love with the location and surrounding landscape. Situated halfway between Brisbane and Sydney, they looked forward to entertaining friends and family who often passed through. However, with a small home they soon decided they needed more space—and our Corsica 30 cabin proved the ideal solution.
The high-level of energy efficiency and insulation from the mass timber walls was a key factor in Guy and Christine’s decision to choose our sustainable backyard cabins over a traditional build or renovation.
As Guy explains: ‘I think for Christine and I, it was very attractive to have a place that was going to be well insulated. And so features like the double glazing works well for us. The actual wall panelling, the weatherboards, if you like, are really very, very thick. We’ve had a couple of nights here down to -6, -8 and we looked at this cabin because it’s really well insulated against that kind of cold.’
Another big tick was the speed of the build thanks to the simplicity and efficiency of the Scandinavian building system. Once the platform was down, it took just two days to build the main structure. Martin, our building partner at Green Door recalls:
‘We started unpacking the studio on Monday morning, and by lunch time we’d begun building the actual structure. By Wednesday afternoon we were pretty well ready to put the roof on. So it’s a very quick process.’
An additional benefit was the ability to customise the floor plan and features to suit. This makes our backyard cabins ideal for a wide range of situations, from accommodation such as this project, through to home offices, poolhouses, studios and teenagers’ retreats.
‘This particular cabin, the Corsica 30 can be customised to the clients’ requirements. In this case, the standard design has a separate bedroom to the living and Guy and Christine preferred an open plan. So we’ve removed the internal wall between the living and bedroom, and it creates a beautiful open-plan space and still with the separate bathroom, toilet and vanity shower room, which I think will work really well,’ says Martin.
With a high-level of insulation and energy efficiency due to the sustainable materials and Scandinavian building method, any guest passing through to visit Guy and Christine is in for a comfortable stay. What’s more, timber homes offer many benefits to our health and wellbeing, which is another reason the cabin feels so pleasant and enjoyable to stay in.
Located in a beautiful rural location, the cabin matches its surroundings perfectly. All you need is some comfy chairs and cold drinks on the undercover front deck and you can sit back and enjoy the views and the tranquility!
The Armidale Guest Accommodation project is just one of the many beautiful, sustainable timber homes and cabins we built in 2021 — you can see more completed projects in our 2021 recap article.