Japanese studio Schemata Architects has renovated a guesthouse in Dromgarriff Rainforest, Ireland, connecting two existing stone buildings with a timber- and steel-framed yoga studio.
Named Linden House, the building is one of five guesthouses spread across the 39-hectare woodland in Glengarriff, which is one of Ireland's last temperate rainforests and a protected ecological area.
After the site was purchased in 2022, its owners began to conserve and rewild the forest, funded partly by the transformation of its existing guesthouses into a wellness retreat.
Schemata Architects was tasked with redesigning one of these guesthouses, connecting two stone-and-slate buildings overlooking Bantry Bay with a new yoga space shared by its 10 bedrooms.
"The existing buildings consisted of two structures connected by a passageway," Schemata Architects founder Jo Nagasaka told Dezeen.
"We envisioned extending this passage toward the south and transforming it into a yoga facility for the retreat centre," he added.
The social spaces of Linden House occupy the ground floor of the longer western volume, which steps down into a large living area overlooking the bay through a fully-glazed gable end.
Three of the guesthouse's ensuite bedrooms occupy the northern end of this longer volume, with a further three tucked beneath timber-framed gable ceilings on its first floor.
The remaining four bedrooms occupy the smaller eastern wing, the largest of which has a double-height seating area with a matching glazed gable end facing the bay.
Connecting the two wings is the yoga studio. It is framed by the exposed stone walls of the buildings on either side and sheltered by a timber- and steel-framed sawtooth roof that incorporates skylights.
"The two buildings are set at an angle to one another, and by connecting them while embracing this twisted relationship we were able to create a distinctive spatial experience and form," Nagasaka explained.
"The most distinctive element is the hybrid sawtooth roof, which integrates daylighting and power generation," he added.
"The north-facing surfaces bring in indirect daylight, while solar panels are installed on the south-facing surfaces to generate electricity from direct sunlight."
A desire for the new finishes to echo the guesthouse's original materials led to the studio's use of timber in the studio, the pale oak finishes in the bedrooms and living spaces, and minimalist white tiles in the bathrooms.
"For the new timber elements, we chose oak, the same species of tree that is native to the surrounding forest, wherever possible," Nagasaka said. "In doing so, we sought to create a connection between the architecture and the natural resources and character of the site."
Linden House marks the beginning of Schemata Architects' involvement with the site, with long-term plans including the possible reconstruction of a hotel that once stood on the site.
Other projects recently completed by Schemata Architects include a store for perfume company Le Labo in Tokyo with board-marked concrete walls and an office in Fujisawa City fronted by a series of oversized corrugated metal shutters.
The photography is by Alexander Baxter unless otherwise stated.
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