Berry, New South Wales, Australia
Designed by Rob Brown and Caroline Casey from Casey Brown Architecture, “Permanent Camping 2”—a tiny copper-clad cabin with movable awnings—is located some 500m from the main house and only accessible by foot, serving as a peaceful off-grid destination that opens toward unobstructed views of the surrounding lush paddocks and the Pacific Ocean.
Two tiny copper towers located on a gently rising hill, amongst the lush green paddocks of Berry overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
Designed to provide the essential requirements for shelter, a bed, a porch or deck, a fireplace, and a bathroom.
A retreat with “everything you need and nothing you don’t need” with the demands of living distilled to the bare essentials.
Permanent Camping 2 has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The mini prefab house floor plan at 3m x 3m is the minimal footprint two people can co-exist without uncomfortably invading their personal space.
The living space at ground level includes facilities to cook, store things, and heat the cabin with sides completely opening up to a morning deck and afternoon deck doubling the usable floor space.
The bed is accessed up a ladder on the second-level mezzanine.
The bathroom structure is a separate tower linked by a deck immediately to the rear with its own water tank storing roof water and a composting toilet.
A getaway, a permanent tent, a place to enjoy nature and simple living, protected when not in use from the harsh elements by a fully enclosing copper skin only opened when in use.
This ensures the finely crafted iron bark interior avoids the ravages of the Australian sun.
The structure all in recycled ironbark from an unused wharf floats above the pasture grasses.
Three manual winches lift and lower the sides creating protected decks and shelter from the summer sun.
Water is collected on the roofs and gravity fed to the tank above the bathroom and onto the shower and kitchen.
A potbelly wood-fired stove heats the cabin at night.
Solar panels on the roof provide power for lighting. Permanent access is provided to the roof which doubles as a lightning conductor.
Pre-fabricated by master craftsman Jeffery Broadfield and the building team from Smith and Primmer in a barn on site, PC2 represents a highly refined continuation of the tradition of PC1 in Mudgee designed by Caseybrown and built by Jeffery Broadfield some 12 years ago.
Located some 500m from the main house the cabin is only accessed by foot thru the paddocks.
It can be seen in the landscape as a small sculpture, only revealing its function on close inspection as the sides open up and the service tower behind becomes obvious.
The building realizes many dreams for the client, the architect, and the craftsmen, a collaboration relishing the process of making.
Project: Permanent Camping 2
Architects: Casey Brown Architecture Pty Ltd.
Design Team: Rob Brown, Antje Mahler, and Caroline Casey
Master Craftsman: Jeffery Broadfield and Mark Preston
Engineers: Adam Coleman, Canterlever Engineers
Client: Private
Photographer: Andrew Loiteron
