Designing for a site, not a plot

A plot is a line on a revenue map. A site is a collection of trees, slopes, light directions, wind patterns, and moods that shift through the year. The difference matters: architects who design for plots produce buildings that look the same in any city; architects who design for sites produce buildings that belong somewhere specific.

A forest site is demanding. Every tree is a negotiation — protect it, lose it, or design around it. Every clearing is a gift. The building has to earn its place among what was already there, rather than replacing it.

Glass as an act of respect

Large expanses of glass in a forest house are not about showing off the view. They are about reducing the building's presence: when the boundary between inside and outside dissolves, the architecture steps back and the landscape steps forward. The interior becomes a room with trees for walls.

The mist in the evening, the way headlights catch the curved roof as a car arrives home — these are not styling moments. They are the reward for getting the siting right in the first place.