A collaboration between designers Richard Pearce and Libby Morgan, Bendigo Cabins were designed as a unique short-term accommodation
experience.
Bendigo, at the head of Lake Dunstan, is a wine growing sub-region steeped in gold mining history and unique due to its harsh, arid environment.
The 4Ha site is located on a kanuka fringed rocky outcrop overlooking the Clutha Basin, and the two cabins are conceptualized as timeless relics
in the landscape – reminiscent of gold mining ruins that dot the local area.
The form of each cabin is a deliberately uncomplicated box, intended to minimise their alien presence and draw the focus to their rich materiality.
They are orientated lengthways to the view, minimising the silhouette against the skyline, and further allaying their unnatural presence in the
landscape. The cabins slope ever so gently forward, toward the precipice, perched over the rocks on an expressed sub-floor of bolted post and
beam structures evocative of mine shaft or water race construction.
The cabins are small but comfortable and fully self-sufficient. The amenities are minimal. Reduced to the bare necessity. The queen bed is tucked
up on a plinth, set back and overlooking the small seating area, allowing a view from under the sheets. Twin face sliders tuck away to dissolve the
boundary between building and land-scape further. A small ensuite is tucked inconspicuously around the corner. Everything you need and nothing
you don’t.