Editorial · AU · NZ · JP · KR · Nordics

Small-scale architecture,
studied in depth.

Case studies of house renovations, short stays, surf shacks, and cabins — from the Pacific Rim to Scandinavia. Built for architects looking for ideas that travel.

Browse case studies This week’s tech

Featured Case Studies

Eight recent projects across our focus regions.

House Renovation

Brunswick House

Melbourne, Australia · Placement

A five-metre Victorian terrace reworked as intimate rooms — brick, joinery and clerestory light, without a default open-plan rear.

Cabin

Cabin Geilo

Geilo, Norway · Lund Hagem

Three volumes under a U-shaped roof at 982 m — a south courtyard for winter sun, nearly buried in snow.

Short Stay

Mawhiti

Waiheke Island, New Zealand · Stevens Lawson

Three linked timber pavilions — living and two sleeping wings — each framing its own Gulf Island view.

Surf Shack

Torquay Beach House

Torquay, Australia · Walton Architecture

Shack façade kept; north-facing raked living and a sand-smart side entry five minutes from both beaches.

House Renovation

House in Takaido

Tokyo, Japan · Takeshi Yamagata Architects

A 60-year-old timber house opened around a semi-outdoor terrace and kazamado screens — air and light without erasing character.

Cabin

Villa Jeju

Seogwipo, Korea · aoa architects

Stacked white volumes grounded in indigenous Jeju basalt — regional identity beyond Mediterranean cladding.

Short Stay

Sauna Smådalarö

Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden · Metropolis Arkitekter

A 24 m² pine box under a boathouse roof — sauna, workshop and canoe store on the rocky shoreline.

Surf Shack

Crow’s Nest

Raglan, New Zealand · Red Architecture

A relocatable surfer’s stay where the rooftop deck is the main room — built to check swell, then move on.

Weekly for Architects

Technology & News

Materials, digital tools, construction tech, and sustainability — short reads for the studio.

20 Oct 2026

CLT panels for renovations under 150 m²

Why cross-laminated timber is showing up in house extensions across Melbourne and Aarhus — and where the detailing still needs care.

Materials

13 Oct 2026

Site scanning on a phone: what’s good enough?

A field comparison of three LiDAR apps for documenting existing cottages before renovation — accuracy, export formats, and pitfalls.

Digital Tools

06 Oct 2026

Heat-recovery ventilation in humid climates

Notes from Jeju and northern NSW cabins that stayed dry without oversized plant — filter cycles, duct runs, and guest-mode settings.

Sustainability

About

About Atelier Cabin

Atelier Cabin is an editorial platform dedicated to small-scale residential and hospitality architecture — house renovations, short-stay dwellings, surf shacks, and cabins — across Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Scandinavia. We publish for architects, designers, and studios who want ideas that travel: clear spatial thinking, honest material choices, and projects that hold up under real client constraints.

Each case study looks beyond the finished photograph. We cover the architectural moves — plan, section, envelope, climate response — and the client process that made them possible: briefs, budgets, site limits, and the negotiations that shape a build. Coverage runs twice weekly, with new case studies on Tuesday and Friday, alongside short notes on materials, tools, and construction practice.

What sets Atelier Cabin apart is that dual lens. We treat the project as both a design object and a working relationship — useful for practitioners who brief clients, and for brands that want their materials, systems, or hospitality products seen in the context of serious small-scale work.

We welcome selective partnerships with material manufacturers, building technology companies, and hospitality brands whose products belong in the projects we cover. Enquiries: info@ateliercabin.com.

Timothy — CEO · Editorial direction

Small-scale architecture,studied in depth.