10 black wooden cabins were scattered on a hillside of the remote village of Tuanjie in China to help ameliorate rural poverty through the introduction of agricultural tourism. 

Designed by Shanghai-based practice ZJJZ, the architects designed mini cabins for a new hotel to make the traditional architecture of Tuanjie alive with these tiny hotel cabins that are raised by steel platforms, providing a minimum footprint on the green area. 

"Instead, the striking landscapes and pollution-free farmlands are the village’s greatest assets. Therefore, our design goal was set to capture the beauty of nature with tranquil forms that harmonize with the surrounding environment," said the architects.

The 500-square-metre hotel consists of 10 single-story wooden houses on a hillside that merges into abundant grass and woods. The topography of the site is complex and features scattered rock formations. Drawings don't provide sufficient information for this projects according to the architects. 

"Eventually, through thorough site surveys, the location and orientation of the ten wood houses were determined so as to capture the most appealing views without disrupting the original rock formations and forests," they added. "A reasonable pedestrian path leads from the bottom of the mountain to the ten individual houses."

The hotel features three types of cabins and each of their forms is slightly changed. Due to the complex shape of the terrain, all building materials were manually transported up to the mountain. 

In order to improve construction efficiency and minimize damage to the original rock formations, the architects combined a structural system adopted for each house using a wood-structured object and an elevated steel platform. 

Due to the limited budget, they used carbonized wood for the facades and was manufactured on site with a simple process which helped reducing cost.

"The design of the wood houses aims to harmonize with the landscape and the rustic atmosphere while forming a contrast to the existing village buildings," added the architects.

"Therefore, we avoided complex or exaggerated designs and selected three basic geometric forms. Each house serves as a separate room." 

The volumes of the rooms are minimized to reduce the sense of presence in the environment while ensuring indoor comfort. The façade, made of carbonized wood, is weather-resistant, and its color and texture make the wood houses blend into the landscape smoothly. 

For interior space, various windows are cut out in each house according to their form and orientation, introducing rich layers of surrounding landscapes into the pure volumes.

Wood house plan type-1

Wood house plan type-2

Wood house plan type-3

Elevation type-1

Section type-1

Elevation all types

All images © Laurian Ghinitoiu

> via ZJJZ