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A Compact, Modern Cabin in the Woods That Reflects the Trees

With real estate prices continuing to soar you’ll find many people needing to downsize or choosing it for a variety of reasons, including wanting less debt, a desire to reduce their footprint, or just wanting less to keep up and maintain. Whatever the reason, going smaller has a lot of benefits for those who choose it. Plus, seeing how designers and small space dwellers make the most of every square inch is fascinating, from the curation of just their favorite things to innovative, multifunctional furniture that will have you wondering why you didn’t think of that. Small space living is here to stay and we’re here for it!

04.04.22 | By
A Compact, Modern Cabin in the Woods That Reflects the Trees

Located in Petite-Rivière-Saint-François, Québec, Canada, a pair of identical cabins, developed as vacation rentals by Bourgeois / Lechasseur architectes, can be found amongst the trees. The Reflection – Mirror Cabins reside on flat land near one of Québec’s most popular ski resorts, Massif Petite-Rivière-Saint-François. Rather than focusing on surrounding views, they instead chose to encourage guests to soak in nature around them. How these cabins differ from most are the reflective glass walls that make them almost disappear into the trees.

While the cabins are close (approx. 50 meters apart), they’re positioned back-to-back to ensure guest privacy. On the long sides that don’t face each other, the entire expanse of the walls features mirrored windows that float floor-to-ceiling. Darkened wood slats clad the other three sides and frame the glass walls, making the units feel fully immersed in nature especially with the trees reflecting back.

The entrances to each cabin are on one end with the exterior wall pushed in allowing the doorway to be protected from the inclement weather.

The interior carries on elements from the exterior, the dark wood framing to be exact. The pine ceilings and light concrete floors offer the perfect contrasts to the black details.

Each cabin is designed with a combined kitchen and living space, along with two bedrooms and a bathroom.

With windows on all four sides, the interiors feel much larger and connected to the surroundings.

The architects paid close attention to the mirror treatment on the windows to prevent bird collisions. The result from the research led to the use of bird-deterrent window markers approved by the Audubon Society, as well as other bird conservancy groups.

The Reflection cabins are the result of the architects’ experimentations with prefabrication, with each unit made up of two modules.

Photos by Adrien Williams and Maxime Brouillet, courtesy of v2com.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.