Crafted from over 1,000 pieces of hand-cut spruce wood, Wooden Cave is a suite like no other in the world.
Designed by Tenon Architecture for Hyades Mountain Resort in southern Greece, the space sits at an altitude of 1,100 metres and boasts impressive views of Mount Kyllini and the surrounding landscape.
The suite is split into two halves, each completed in different material palettes – the rear half is made almost entirely from wood, with gently curved walls akin to those on the inside of a cave.
Two areas of the rear wall dip inwards to accommodate double and single beds, which have been built into a curving platform wide enough, when necessary, to double-up as a bench seat.
The front half of the suite, meanwhile, features more traditional linear surfaces such as ashy black tiles, which cover the walls of a sitting area complete with fireplace, and the bathroom, where the tub has been purposely placed beside the window in order to provide year-round views of the nearby slopes.
Other interior touches include taps, spotlights and pendant lamp in jet black, as well as a knotless pinewood floorboards, kitchenette cupboards and a dining table that extends out from the wall.
Architects Apostolos Mitropoulos and Thanos Zervos used an algorithm-based programme to draw out the required shape of each timber piece, which were then cut to size on-site and slotted together to form 55 modules. These were combined to form the cave-like structure after being shaped and smoothed by hand.
The studio also ensured that the structure wasn’t erected flush against the suite’s concrete shell, meaning air can flow freely behind and passively cool the space during the warmer summer months.
