A Manually Folding Retreat – Balnarring Retreat by Branch Studio Architects

A fully adaptable structure, with elements on all planes that transform the function, Balnarring Retreat is envisioned as a low-tech place in which to disconnect. Branch Studio Architects celebrate craft through material and detail.

Tasked with creating a space that was inherently adaptable, Branch Studio Architects has devised a number of manipulations and mechanisms that allow the internal functionality to be transformed through intervention. True to its ethos of being a place to disconnect from the urban milieu and engage more fully with the spaces inhabited, a series of folding, opening, closing and revealing joinery elements are integrated within the structure. As a celebration of the limitless potential of craft and through the selected materiality and resulting detail, Balnarring Retreat is a place of curiosity.

Located south of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula, the engagement with place and the surrounding environment has been built into the fabric of the retreat. Through a sensory immersion – the sound of frogs croaking in the lake, the reflections of the water on the ceilings internally, the ducks and other birds wandering past the façade and the movement of surrounding greenery, the thresholds between the built and the natural become blurred. At the heart of this place is an encouragement to slow down and engage with both the built environment, as well as the natural, by manually adapting the arrangement of the cabin to suit as required. In doing so, the design reminds the visitor that they too are a participating part of the structure.

Branch Studio Architects has devised a number of manipulations and mechanisms that allow the internal functionality to be transformed through intervention.

With the ability to transform internally, the studio and retreat space is absent of one specific program, and instead has the ability to change as required. Whether for a large shared meal, casual drinks, a creative studio or reflective quiet space, the walls and joinery provide a multitude of operational variations. To the south, the wall contains a bed, desk, shelving, storage and conceals the air-conditioner unit. To east unfolds a series of platforms that create a long table and storage, and the west contains the kitchen, workspace and a concealed door to the bathroom beyond. And the northern wall houses an integrated sunken daybed which also doubles as a seating element.

The design reminds the visitor that they too are a participating part of the structure.

Although a non-specific and open-ended program, the brief of a multi-functional space has been made possible due to the clever integration of crafted moving panels and joinery that has many uses. Balnarring Retreat sees Branch Studio Architects maximise the unique site, creating an immersion within the landscape by fully embracing its sensory cues, resulting in a space with endless (literal) unfolding potential.