Agathom has created the Rainforest Retreat, a wonderfully simple yet beautiful artist’s retreat in Vancouver Island hidden and tucked away in the green canopy. The natural light intake has been one of the main demands from the owner in the construction of this small yet cozy retreat. Taking the natural environment into account, the architect has conceived a home treated with natural materials such as milled fir and cedar timber where the beams have been left exposed to create that wonderful warm ambiance sought by the occasional inhabitant.

The exterior design takes a bow to the natural, leaving the materials bare and exposed to the environmental phenomenons. Concrete base and a wood mesh clad the simple rectangular volume awaiting to transform with the passing seasons. “Great effort was taken to minimise the building’s impact on the site, resulting in a long, slim structure.By slightly twisting two main blocks of the plan, and overlapping these shapes, a building modest in area is ever expansive and full of unexpected depth.Being set in the shade of trees, all that was required for cooling was operable windows at low and high reaches creating constant fresh air movement,” said Agathom.

The one kitchen one bedroom one bath composition has been constructed in direct connection to the natural medium having ample glazed walls outreaching the forest bed.

The design has been k...