Tea Hut

The tea hut was commissioned as a bird lookout hut where you could collect the rainwater, boil it in a small wood chip fire, make tea, and debate the meaning of life while looking out over a wetland and birdlife. The roof apex brackets were designed as a hook to hang a dictionary to help the debates. No glass was to be used.

The skylight is opaque and the only natural light source when the doors are closed. The light casts minimal shadows to remove the passage of time in a meditative manner or a genuine escape from the world’s stresses.

The hardwood frame is exposed on the interior and enclosed with plywood insulated sandwich panels utilising truck panel glueing tables to create large roof panels. The panels: enclose, brace, insulate, and protect the structure. The hut is situated under a gun tree and pushed into the ground with a low dry stone wall allowing entry from the ground level.