Primally Grounded – Mountain Retreat by Fearon Hay

Immersing itself within its alpine surrounds, Mountain Retreat offers a place of reprieve and recharge amongst an abounding and enviable landscape, drinking in the abundant views. Fearon Hay draws from the traditional housing typology within elevated regions while integrating key material references that respond intimately to context.

Nestled into the established forest landscape, Mountain Retreat combines the simplicity of being within nature and the scale of a traditional hut with a more modern and refined sensibility. Anchored to the site, the form sits low and weighted through its massing, and though it is contained to one level, the focus throughout is directed outward as a reminder of its location. While the overall floorplate is restrained to 100 square metres, the home becomes more of a place of shelter and outlook – somewhere to bunker down and gather warmth as a relief from the environment. Fearon Hay ensures a considered connection to the site through the comprising material selections, maintaining a tight and discreet silhouette while focusing on a heightened engagement with the senses.

Anchored to the site, the form sits low and weighted through its massing, and while it is contained to one level, the focus throughout is directed outward as a reminder of its location.

Inspired by an overarching simplicity, the planning of the retreat is linear in its composition and offers references to a Japanese zen approach. The bedroom and sleeping spaces are accessed off the main living area and sits behind a sliding full-height door that also acts as a dividing wall. The continuing of the materiality across the wall and door surfaces works to bind the two and elongate the otherwise slightness of the space.

Externally, local rock is used to compose thick masonry walls and provide a solidity of the overall form as it sits burrowed into the mountain side. Extensive glazing then allows the living areas to be opened to the views and provides direct access from inside to out, without the need for a transition. There is a primal nature to the way in which the architecture engages with the site that is mirrored in the way in which users are invited to engage with the architecture. The dark and brooding colour palette then grounds the building in place, reinforcing a sense of enclosure and warmth, protecting from within.

Externally, local rock is used to compose thick masonry walls and provide a solidity of the overall form as it sits burrowed into the mountain side.

Almost like a cave of its own making, Mountain Retreat sits textural and defending, offering the ideal place to observe the alpine milieu. Through an expression of texture, Fearon Hay add a richness to the experience of the home, reinforcing the idea of a sanctuary.