Lakeside Retreat is a sylvan campus: made, shaped, formed of woods, unfolding on a gentle slope that descends to Lake George. Rather than concentrating the construction in one single building, the project is distributed across the entire site, allowing for smaller buildings and preserving the wooded quality around. The idea is to draw people out into the landscape, enticing visitors to take advantage of the many different environments they can encounter. Convenience is not paramount, what is important is awareness, a constant reminder of the wooded nature of the campus.

Watch Grounded,  a video from city to retreat

At the top, near the road, the Gatehouse Garage marks the threshold between the highway and the serenity of the deeply forested site. Guests stop here and transfer to small electric vehicles or continue on foot along one of the scenic nature trails. By day, the garage and the caretaker’s workshop are flooded with natural light. By night, the volume glows softly, interior light diffusing through translucent panels. The building also houses an office and long-term storage and is clad with corrugated, perforated metal rainscreens.

Down the gentle wooded descent, two Guesthouses act as datums against which to read the changes in the landscape. Barely touching the forest, two simple boxes are stacked and rotated. Clad with slatted wood rainscreens, the minimal cabins provide two guest suites each. The roof of the lower box serves as an outdoor viewing deck, while the floor-to-ceiling glass windows in the bedrooms serve as viewing frames to contemplate nature.

Emerging from the lake, the Boathouse consists of a series of stepped wood platforms from which to dive.