A wedge-shaped holiday cabin in Dorset by SIPS Garden Rooms
The Nest, a holiday cabin for two near Milton Abbas in Dorset, shows how SIPS Garden Rooms take SIP panels well beyond the usual rectangle.
Most garden buildings are rectangles, and SIP buildings especially so, because the panels are rectangular forms themselves. SIPS Garden Rooms design and build SIP projects that break from that, and The Nest, a holiday cabin for two near Milton Abbas in Dorset, is one of them.
Seen from above, The Nest is a wedge, wide at the end that opens onto the deck and narrowing to a point among the trees. It stands on Hewish Farm, a working farm, and is let as part of The Bide.
A wedge among the trees
The cabin sits at the edge of a copse on sloping ground, raised on posts so the floor stays level as the land falls away beneath it. The walls meet at angles rather than square corners, and a single roof slopes across the whole plan, so the building sits in among the tree canopy rather than in a cleared rectangle in front of them.
Panels cut to the design
Structural insulated panels are made in a factory, with the structure and insulation in one panel, and they are cut to the design before they reach site. That is what makes angled walls and an unusual roofline possible. It takes careful design and accurate setting out, since every panel and junction is different.
The same skill is useful in an ordinary garden. Where a boundary runs at an angle, a rectangular building either leaves unusable corners around it or has to be made smaller to fit. A building shaped to the boundary can use the ground that is there.
The owners’ choices
The finishes were the owners’ choices. Outside, they chose small overlapping shingles in a single dark colour, carried through to the window frames, and a deck with an outdoor bath set into it and a net hammock. Inside, the walls continue the same dark palette, and the cabin is fitted out for two, with a king-size bed beside a large picture window looking into the copse, a shower room and a small kitchen.
You can see the finished cabin, and book a stay, on The Bide’s website.
Turnkey or shell
SIPS Garden Rooms offer two ways to build. On the full turnkey service they handle the project from design and planning approval through the build on site, the exterior and interior finishes, and the connections to the mains. Alternatively, they design and put up a weathertight shell, and the client finishes it with their own trades.
Learn more about SIPS Garden Rooms
SIPS Garden Rooms design and build bespoke SIP garden rooms, annexes and holiday cabins across the south of England and Wales, including buildings shaped well beyond the usual rectangle. To discuss your own project with Quentin, visit www.sipsgardenrooms.co.uk, call 07866 666 011, or email Quentin@sipsgardenrooms.co.uk.
