A wooden cabin as a natural antidepressant
Closed, open centre and open centre with glass roof: the Nature House Anna has three shell configurations.
All photos: Jorrit ‘t Hoen
During his time as a
scholarship holder in London, the designer Caspar Schols had the idea
for a new house design. Based on his "Garden House", which he had designed for his mother, it was to be a fully habitable
house that could be built and rebuilt anywhere in the world. The
original spirit of flexibility and connection to the environment was to be
preserved. After some experimentation, the Nature House "Anna" was
born.
Equipped with two protective
sliding shells, Anna allows you to
open up and become part of your surroundings. An inner shell is made of double
glass, with an outer shell made of wood. By adjusting the two shells, Anna changes and adapts to weather, moods, or occasions, making it
possible to connect to a reality in which in Schols` eyes we naturally belong.
The cabine has a fixed part which houses a kitchen, shower, toilet, and
storage space. The bath in the main space is the heart of the cabin.
Bathtub as the focal point
The bathtub with fittings is fully integrated into the floor area.
In the toilet area, the O. novo toilet by Villeroy & Boch was
installed in combination with the Grohe Skate Cosmopolitan actuator plate
In total, Anna offers space for up to two king-size beds.
Anna has an
indoor bathroom with shower and separate toilet. The bathtub with fittings is fully
integrated into the floor area. Providing a feeling of security, as people
experience as babies in their mother's womb, but also for the feeling of
reconnecting with Mother Nature on a deeper level.
For a natural experience and
an embraced feeling, the shower and toilet area is also finished of sustainable
Accoya wood. In the toilet area, the O. novo toilet by Villeroy & Boch was
installed in combination with the Grohe Skate Cosmopolitan actuator plate,
which offers not only its classic design but also the latest flushing
technology. Thanks to the offered 2-volume rinse it is possible to choose
between a rinse volume of 3 or 6 litres.
Anna is finally an open dynamic platform that allows users to play with
its configuration, depending on their needs or moods. The cabin features three
main shell configurations: closed; open center; and open center with glass
roof. Users can decide on the amount of space they want to have exposed,
covered or just transparent.
Sustainable design for natural recreation
The Nature House is heated by a wood
stove, but it is possible to install electric heating.
For the building for Anna Schols used Birch ply for its high quality and light colour,
insulated with five centimeters of sawdust. The cabin is heated by a wood
stove, but there is an option to install electric heating. Overall, Anna Stay can accommodate up to two king-size beds. The cabin is also
available in a self-sufficient off-grid version with a fire-heated boiler,
solar system and wastewater treatment plant. The off-grid version is currently
only available in the Netherlands. In Addition, the cabine is modularly developed, which results in short
construction time on site and minimal ecological disruption.
Anna not only wants to connect
people, but also to establish a relationship with nature. In our hectic times,
which can increasingly lead to exhaustion, burnout and depression, a stay close
to nature without barriers such as walls or roofs is intended to get recovery
processes going faster - living as a natural antidepressant, as it were.
