Forestone is a 20 m² experimental dwelling located in the Pyrenees, conceived as a research prototype that explores the intersection of regenerative forestry, fire-responsive construction, and compact living within a sensitive mountain landscape.
Forestone Technical Information
- Architects: Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC)
- Location: MónNatura Sort, Pyrenees, Spain
- Gross Area: 20 m2 | 215 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2025 – 2026
- Photographs: © Adrià Goula , © Alexander Herbig, © Nina Poort
The project treats the cabin as part of a broader material cycle, where construction, landscape, and resource management are understood as a single system rather than separate concerns.
– IAAC Design Team
Context, Program, and Experimental Framework
Forestone is situated at MónNatura Sort in the Pyrenees, within a sloping forested setting adjacent to existing educational facilities. The site forms part of an active landscape where environmental stewardship and public engagement coexist. Rather than defining itself as an isolated retreat, the cabin operates as a temporary dwelling that must accommodate human presence while preserving the ecological continuity of its surroundings.
Developed within an academic framework, the project functions as a full-scale research artifact. It examines how small-scale architecture can engage regenerative forestry practices, particularly in territories shaped by fire risk and forest management. The involvement of students in both design and construction positions the cabin as an inquiry into material sourcing, fabrication processes, and the environmental implications of architectural decisions.
The program is deliberately limited to the essentials required for two occupants: rest, work, and hygiene. This restriction drives a highly efficient organization, in which spatial economy is calibrated to climatic exposure and topography. The compact footprint minimizes ground disturbance while encouraging careful calibration of orientation, enclosure, and internal relationships.
Form, Geometry, and Spatial Response
The cabin’s geometry emerges from a direct formal reading of the Pyrenean landscape. Conceived as a faceted mass resembling a rock that has come to rest on the slope, the volume avoids orthogonal symmetry in favor of inclined planes that register movement, gravity, and terrain. The building reads as placed rather than anchored, reinforcing a sense of provisional occupation.
Inside, the inclined walls and sloping roof generate subtle variations in ceiling height that differentiate sleeping, working, and circulation zones without requiring partitions. This calibrated sectional strategy allows a single volume to support multiple uses while maintaining spatial continuity. The geometry shapes perception through compression and release, producing a nuanced interior despite the limited area.
Openings are positioned with restraint, aligning views toward the surrounding mountains and facilitating cross-ventilation. Solar exposure informs both fenestration and shading strategies, while operable wooden shutters enable complete darkness at night. This measure addresses both human comfort and the reduction of light pollution within an environment used for astronomical observation.
Material Systems and Fire-Responsive Construction
The structural and envelope system relies on locally sourced cross-laminated timber panels, reflecting an emphasis on short material supply chains and regional forestry practices. CLT allows structure, enclosure, and interior finish to converge into a single construction logic, reducing the number of layers and simplifying assembly through dry connections.
Externally, pine boards finished using the Yakisugi technique form a durable cladding system. Charring the wood surface enhances resistance to insects, moisture, and fire, while extending material longevity in a demanding mountain climate. The process of burning and sealing the timber is not treated as an applied aesthetic but as an integral performance strategy.
This fire-responsive material choice carries conceptual weight within the Pyrenean context, where forest management is inseparable from controlled burning and fuel reduction. Here, architectural detailing aligns environmental performance with a broader territorial narrative, allowing construction methods to participate in discussions around fire prevention and ecological resilience.
Interior Integration, Craft, and Replicability
The interior is conceived as a continuous wooden environment in which furniture, structure, and enclosure are materially and tectonically unified. Custom CLT elements define the bed, seating, work surfaces, and storage, eliminating distinctions between architecture and fit-out. This integration reduces material redundancy while reinforcing spatial clarity.
Local craft practices extend beyond timber. Wool sourced from nearby farms is processed into felted textiles that provide thermal softness and acoustic moderation within the rigid CLT shell. A stone washbasin, carved by hand from a rock collected on site, introduces a geological counterpoint to the timber interior and anchors daily rituals in the material realities of the landscape.
From its inception, Forestone is designed as a replicable system. Modular CLT components, reversible assemblies, and reliance on locally available resources allow the structure to be adapted or dismantled without permanent alteration to the site. Replicability here is understood not as standardization, but as an adaptable framework capable of responding to varied forest conditions and cultural contexts.
About Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC)
The Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) is a research, education, and production center based in Barcelona, founded over 20 years ago. IAAC focuses on envisioning and building future habitats through experimentation, digital innovation, and hands-on learning. Its architectural approach emphasizes learning by doing, integrating advanced technologies, ecological principles, and real-scale prototyping to address environmental, social, and material challenges shaping contemporary and future architecture.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Client: Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera
- Construction company: Fustes Sebastia (Sergi Sebastia, Emma Sebastia Sarroca, Estel Arnal Llunell); Tallfusta (Ignasi Caus, David Valldeoriola)
- Project direction: Vicente Guallart, Daniel Ibañez, and Michael Salka;
- Project developed by the students of the Master’s in Ecological Architecture and Advanced Construction 2024/25;
- Project coordination: Esin Aydemir
- Valldaura management: Laia Pifarré
- Advisors: Miquel Rodriguez, Elena Orte, Guillermo Sevillano, Firas Safieddine, and Rian van Dijk
- Communication: Pati Nuñez Agency
- Photography: Adrià Goula, Alexander Herbig, and Nina Poort
