Chicken Point Cabin in Idaho by Olson Kundig

Article source: Olson Kundig

The owners of Chicken Point Cabin and their two young children bought the waterfront property—located half an hour from their house in northern Idaho—in order to build a lakeside cabin. Their intent was to be able to use the house year-round, but especially during the summer, when the local weather can get oppressively hot. Their only directive to Tom was simple: make the house as open to the water as possible. Tom’s response to this challenge was as direct as the request: a large pivoting picture window on the waterside that literally opens up to the landscape. “Little house, big window,” in Tom’s words.

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

• Architects: Olson Kundig
• Project: Chicken Point Cabin
• Location:  Idaho, USA

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

The cabin’s big window wall (30 feet by 20 feet) opens the entire living space to the forest and lake. This direct and powerful gesture imposed a multitude of design and technical challenges. At first a simple counter- balance device using sandbags was proposed, then a power-generated mechanical system that treats the twenty- foot-by-thirty-foot window as a large garage door. The desire to design something that required direct action by the user, however, proved to be too irresistible. The final solution is a hand-cranked mechanical contraption employing a counterbalance principle through a set of gears, like that of a bicycle, that allow minimal input of force to pivot the six-ton steel and glass window. Although the gizmo employs sophisticated mechanical engineering, the result is not unlike the opening of a tent flap, allowing fresh air and unimpeded views to enter the cabin proper.

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Although the family approaches the house by water during the summer months, during the winter the approach is by road, and the house is entered through the nineteen-foot steel door on the west side. A plywood loft containing the master suite is suspended into the concrete-block shell and overlooks the living space, while additional bedrooms and service spaces are saddlebagged on the two sides of the main volume.

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Image Courtesy © Olson Kundig

Tags: Idaho, USA

Category: Cabin

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