CLT House: A Green-Roofed Retreat in Hungary

On the flat Hungarian plain, a dark house sits beside a natural swimming pond. CLT House, designed by Hello Wood, is a single-storey weekend retreat built entirely from cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, clad in charred timber, and topped with a green roof that merges with the surrounding meadow. The house is designed to disappear: from the access road, only the chimney is visible above the wildflowers. From the pond, it is a low dark line with a timber deck.

Hello Wood is a Hungarian studio known for experimental timber construction and their annual building festivals. CLT House is their most complete residential project: a V-shaped plan that wraps around a natural pond, with every surface made from timber or concrete. The CLT panels are the structure, the insulation, and the interior finish. The charred timber cladding is the weather protection. The green roof is the landscape. Three materials do all the work.

The Landscape: Pond, Meadow, and Green Roof

The wide landscape photographs show the strategy. The house sits low in a wildflower meadow beside a natural swimming pond. The green roof is planted with grasses that match the surrounding vegetation. From a distance, the house reads as a dark horizontal line between the meadow and the sky. The flat Hungarian plain extends to the horizon. There are no neighbours, no fences, and no hard landscape. The timber deck and the pond edge are the only constructed surfaces in a field of green.

The V-Plan: House and Pond

The aerial photographs reveal the plan. The house is V-shaped, with two wings that open toward the pond. The timber deck wraps around the curve of the water's edge, creating a continuous outdoor room between the house and the pond. A concrete chimney rises at the hinge of the V. Outdoor furniture, bean bag chairs, and a fire pit sit on the deck. At sunset, the charred timber glows dark against the warm light, and the pond reflects the sky. This is a house designed for sitting outside and looking at water.

The Deck and the Fireplace

The deck is the primary living space. The charred timber wall behind contains a built-in concrete fireplace niche and a recessed TV. Green metal chairs and a round table sit at the corner. An orange life ring hangs on a hook for the swimming pond. The green roof is visible above the wall, blurring the boundary between building and landscape. The fire pit on the deck provides warmth on cool evenings. The house is oriented west, so the sunset is the view from every seat.

The Covered Terrace

The covered terrace connects the two wings. Board-formed concrete columns support a CLT ceiling soffit. The charred timber walls of the bedrooms face the terrace. A round dining table sits under the overhang. The passage between the two volumes frames a view of the meadow beyond. The entry arrives through a narrow gap between charred timber walls, with a concrete step and sharp shadows. The sequence is compressed and dark before it opens to the deck and the pond.

Interior: CLT, Timber, and Concrete

Inside, the CLT panels are exposed on walls and ceiling. The bedroom has timber-framed glass doors that open directly onto the deck and the pond. The bedding is white. A leather armchair sits in the corner. A sheer curtain filters the light. The bathroom has dark green-grey walls, a black-framed glass shower screen, a rain shower, and a timber vanity with a clerestory window above. The view from the living area through the sliding glass doors frames the deck, the pond, the chairs, and the meadow beyond. The interior is warm, minimal, and entirely timber.

The Green Roof

The green roof is the project's most important element. It is planted with native grasses and wildflowers that match the surrounding meadow. A concrete stair from the deck leads up to the roof level. From above, the roof is a continuation of the landscape: the chimney rises from it, smoke drifts across it, and the meadow grows over it. The green roof provides insulation, rainwater absorption, and habitat. It also makes the house nearly invisible from ground level. This is architecture as landscape, not architecture in landscape.

Why This Project Matters

CLT construction is one of the fastest-growing structural systems in European architecture. Most CLT buildings are multi-storey urban projects. Hello Wood's CLT House shows that the same material system works at the domestic scale: a single-storey retreat where the CLT panels are the structure, the interior, and the thermal envelope. The charred timber cladding provides durability without paint. The green roof provides insulation without mechanical systems. The V-plan provides shelter without enclosure.

If you are designing a rural retreat, a sustainable house, or any project where the building should merge with its landscape, CLT House is worth studying for how three materials, a V-plan, and a green roof can produce a house that is simultaneously warm, durable, and invisible.

About the Studio

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Project credits: CLT House by Hello Wood. Hungary. Photographs: Gyorgy Palko.