A Sylvan Retreat
Room For London
Sylvan Retreat was Threefold Architect’s entry in Living Architecture’s 2007 open design competition around a place of refuge and retreat on London’s iconic South Bank. The proposed temporary installation takes the form of a one-bedroom hotel room to be located on the top of the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall during London’s 2012 Olympic year.
The proposal aimed to give occupants the experience of ‘camping’ in a woodland or ‘sylvan’ retreat while at the same time being in the heart of a major world capital. It achieved this by taking the form of a single hotel room nestled in a forest of a 365 silver birch trees. From ground level the urban glade sought to attract the curiosity of both the tourist and born-and-bred Londoner, who frequent this busy riverside leisure area.
The structure’s form, derived from a classic A-frame tent, comprised a living room, a bedroom with en-suite bathroom, a study and kitchenette. Three defining views of London were framed through wooded avenues. The study, a contemplative space, was oriented to look out on the gothic forms of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, whilst the living room and bedroom were orientated to capture views of the BT Tower and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
The competition’s organisers envisaged that the hotel room would be hired for each night of 2012, providing tourists, athletes, businesspeople and artists a chance to experience London in a unique way. In collaboration with a green spaces charity, Threefold Architects proposed that afterwards, each of the 365 trees would be donated to parks and communities around London. These trees would be accompanied by a message from each individual donor, in the form of an anecdote, poem or drawing.