Cabin in Woods by Ediz Demirel Works – A Minimalist Steel-Clad Retreat in Kozak Plateau

A Contemporary Cabin Rooted in the Kozak Landscape

Cabin in Woods by Ediz Demirel Works is a compact 54 m² retreat designed for short-term rentals, located on a quiet hillside near a village in the Kozak Plateau of Pergamon, Türkiye. Conceived as an escape from dense urban environments, the cabin embraces the untouched landscape while introducing a distinctly contemporary architectural language. Resting lightly atop an existing dry stone terrace wall of an old vineyard, the project makes minimal environmental impact, preserving the natural forms and textures of the land.

Design Concept: A Sunken Core Wrapped in a Floating Metal Shell

At the heart of the design lies a sunken conversation pit, a modern reinterpretation of communal gathering spaces historically embedded in topography. This lowered central zone encourages social interaction, allowing guests to gather around a fire, share conversations, and experience the site from shifting spatial perspectives. Surrounding this core, a metal-clad shell acts as a protective envelope, contrasting the natural environment with an intentional sense of structural clarity and material precision.

Functional spaces—wet areas, kitchen, circulation zones, and storage—extend outward from the central pit like architectural satellites. Above, a mezzanine level carved within the steel shell creates intimate sleeping and working areas, enhancing the vertical layering of the compact footprint.

Spatial Experience and Framing the Landscape

A horizontal incision across the steel façade opens toward a panoramic view of the Kozak Plateau, framing the expansive terrain like a cinematic window. This controlled aperture introduces natural light and fosters a continuous dialogue between interior and exterior. Additional openings project outward like sculptural “eyes,” strengthening the cabin’s unique identity while mediating views, privacy, and daylight.

Inside, the warm tactility of wood surfaces contrasts with the cool rigidity of the metal exterior, emphasizing a duality between grounded comfort and industrial lightness.

Materiality and Construction Strategy

The cabin’s foundation is anchored to the site through the restoration and reinforcement of the existing dry stone wall, seamlessly integrating old stonework with new structural interventions. Into this base, in-situ reinforced concrete is cast to form the stable platform for the emerging structure.

Above the foundation, the cabin transitions into a steel structural system and prefabricated Corten steel façade panels. Manufactured off-site and assembled on-site, these prefabricated components ensure precise construction, minimal environmental disturbance, and reduced build time. The weathering steel exterior allows the cabin to evolve visually with the climate, gradually blending into the forested surroundings as its patina develops.

A Dialogue of Oppositions: Lightness and Solidity

The architectural narrative is shaped by a deliberate interplay between two contrasting elements:

• The heavy foundation and sunken pit that ground the cabin in the earth
• The tent-like steel shell that hovers lightly above the terrain

This duality reflects a thoughtful balance between local material authenticity and foreign tectonic expression, between permanence and temporary occupation, and between natural textures and industrial precision. Through these opposing yet complementary strategies, Cabin in Woods forms its identity as a retreat that both respects and challenges its environment.

All photographs are works of Egemen Karakaya