This Prefab Cabin Is Light on the Land and Heavy on the Views
Local firm Saxon Hall Architecture designs a modular, off-grid communal building for a coastal campsite in Tasmania.
Local firm Saxon Hall Architecture designs a modular, off-grid communal building for a coastal campsite in Tasmania.
Welcome to Prefab Profiles, an ongoing series of interviews with people transforming how we build houses. From prefab tiny houses and modular cabin kits to entire homes ready to ship, their projects represent some of the best ideas in the industry. Do you know a prefab brand that should be on our radar? Get in touch!
Saxon Hall, founder of the namesake architecture firm, was first introduced to the world of prefabricated buildings in 2015 while working on modular dwellings for a construction company in Tasmania, Australia, where he’s based. The experience, coupled with his observation of the region’s dearth of transportable, low maintenance homes capable of performing in Tasmania's intense range of temperatures, eventually led him to design his first prefabricated project. Dubbed the Standup Cabin, the two module building holds the shared dining, bathing, and cooking facilities for a coastal campsite on the Tasman Peninsula.
We spoke to Saxon Hall about creating the Standup Cabin, designing in Tasmania’s challenging climate, and what’s next for his practice.
The Tasmania-based studio Saxon Hall Architecture has recently completed the Standup Cabin, a prefabricated building consisting of two modules encompassing 968 square feet.
Photo by Matt Sansom
What’s the most exciting project you’ve realized to date?
The most exciting but challenging prefabricated project I have done is the Standup Cabin located on the Tasman Peninsula on the land of the Pydairrerme People. The design is a 968-square-foot prefabricated structure consisting of two modules. Overall, the goal of the project was to design a sustainable, transportable dwelling that prioritizes off-grid living, minimizes site disturbance, and allows for easy future relocation while also providing a beautiful and functional living space that connects users to the surrounding landscape.
Located on a picturesque campsite on Tasmania’s Tasman Peninsula, the modular building functions as the property’s communal dining, bathing, and cooking facilities.
Photo by Matt Sansom
What’s the owners favorite thing about their prefab?
On the design side, the owners love the picture frame windows to the ocean and coastline, and the connection of the structures, which lightly touches the ground without the harsh scalping of a conventional construction methodology. Functionally, they now have an asset that can be relocated and reused when it’s time for the property to have another home.
The transportable cabin was constructed offsite in Victoria, Australia, then shipped to Tasmania where it was craned onto the site and assembled over two days.
Photo by Matt Sansom
See the full story on Dwell.com: This Prefab Cabin Is Light on the Land and Heavy on the Views
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