Dezeen Magazine

Tiny writer's studio by Architensions provides a creative refuge in Brooklyn

Tucked away at the bottom of a Brooklyn garden, this tiny cedar-clad pavilion was designed as a retreat for a pair of writers.

Writing Hut by Architensions

Brooklyn-based firm Architensions has created a minimal space with carefully placed views and plenty of natural light, designed to reduce potential distractions.

Writing Hut by Architensions

The 50-square-foot (4.6 square metres) interior of the structure is made entirely of pine plywood, furnished with a folding desk, a chair, and a built-in sofa.

Writing Hut by Architensions

An angled skylight brings sunshine inside, and a small window at the desk level offers views out to the enclosed garden.

A full-height glass door marks the entrance to the studio, leading in from a 50-square-foot (4.6 square metres) concrete and wood terrace.

Writing Hut by Architensions

The rough, dark-painted exterior is meant to disappear at night but stand out against the garden's foliage during the day.

Writing Hut by Architensions

"The colour palette comes from a specific aesthetic the design was trying to achieve and also from the fact that the black would contrast very well the trees in every season," Architensions founder Alessandro Orsini told Dezeen. "The yellow leaves during the fall and the vibrant green in the spring/summer, and the snow in the winter."

Writing Hut by Architensions

The studio has no artificial cooling but does have electricity for simple lighting.

In a hectic city like New York, quiet spaces and isolation are increasingly rare, which impacts creativity, according to the architects.

Writing Hut by Architensions

"New York City is becoming increasingly demanding in terms of the time we have in our hands and we have to find our own escapes in the city," Orsini said. "Isolation or escape is an experience that involves space and time, whether for an extended or compressed duration."

Writing Hut by Architensions

"This small-scale building is a good example of how someone can use a small space to work that is spatially separated from their domestic environment," he added.

Small structures like micro houses and garden studios are becoming increasingly popular around the world. Examples include portable tiny houses in Poland that can by moved on rail lines and a micro house on stilts in Germany.

Photography is by Cameron Blaylock.

Writing Hut by Architensions
Plan – click for larger image
Writing Hut by Architensions
Roof plan – click for larger image
Writing Hut by Architensions
Long section – click for larger image
Writing Hut by Architensions
Cross section one – click for larger image
Writing Hut by Architensions
Cross section two – click for larger image