Forest Pond House

Located in rural Hampshire, the Forest Pond House is both a space for meditation and a children’s den in the woods. Cantilevering over the bank of a pond a the foot of a family garden, the timber frame structure is finished in plywood, glass and copper. The act of making and working with the materials was important in this self-built project. Constructing smaller projects ourselves has remained an important element of how we work.

The design overlays two functions in a simple form created by intersecting circular and square geometries at the meeting of the water and the forest.

The Forest Pond House combines contrasting surroundings and uses as it nestles in between the dark drama of the forest and bright calm of the water.

Black, angular surfaces address the forest; light curved surfaces and sheet glass address the pond. As well as mirroring the building’s environment the design creates its dual functions.

The dark elevations serve as blackboards for drawing in the woods. A rising floor and falling ceiling shrinks one corner down to the size of a child. The brighter end of the Forest Pond House, with its single source of light and bench looking on to the water, offers focus and a place for reflection.