"Nothing is superfluous" in compact Greek holiday cabin by Kasawoo
London architecture studio Kasawoo has created The Root, a prefabricated holiday cabin in Greece, clad in deep-red timber planks and designed to be relocatable.
Surrounded by olive groves, the 20-square-metre cabin sits on a site in Zakynthos that has been in the family of Kasawoo co-founder Katie Kasabalis for decades, alongside the ruins of her grandmother's old stone house.
According to Kasabalis and fellow co-founder Darius Woo, The Root was designed to propose a "different kind of luxury" for the area, where they said holiday homes are typically housed within "sprawling concrete" structures.
The road-legal and relocatable cabin was instead designed to contain only what was necessary and was entirely prefabricated in Romania before being transported to the site.
"We deliberately avoided the language of high-design holiday villas that dominate places like Mykonos or Santorini," Kasabalis and Woo told Dezeen.
"While we admire their material richness, that kind of spectacle wasn't what this project was about," they continued.
Kasabalis and Woo added that, instead, "the project's generosity lies in what it refuses to add".
"Nothing is superfluous. Built-in furniture maximises the compact interior, while passive strategies such as natural cross-ventilation and careful orientation enhance comfort without mechanical excess," the duo continued.
"The Root demonstrates that small-scale architecture can do more with less: preserve fragile sites, connect past and present, and propose a different kind of luxury – one defined not by size, but by clarity, care, and a gentle dialogue with the land."
The deep shade of red used for the timber exterior and metal window frames of The Root was informed by a similar shade found in historic villas in Zakynthos, while the twisted roof was intended to "echo the mountainous horizon".
Inside, the cabin is divided along its length into four sections, two metres wide, which contain a sleeping area, a kitchen and a bathroom on either side of a flexible entrance space.
The red exterior is contrasted by a lining of exposed plywood, which was also used for the cabin's built-in furniture, including kitchen cabinets, storage under the bed, a sofa and bookshelves.
An unexpected pop of colour is found in the bathroom, which is lined with blue finishes to create what the studio described as "an otherworldly atmosphere".
"Because the exterior already had such a strong presence, we wanted the interior to feel calm and warm," Kasabalis and Woo said. "Rather than using plain white, we chose finished plywood for its softness, simplicity, and natural character."
"For the bathroom, we introduced blue as a deliberate contrast. It creates an almost otherworldly atmosphere – like stepping into a different space within the cabin," they added.
Sliding doors sheltered by timber shutters open the cabin onto elevated timber decks on either side, which effectively double its footprint while ensuring minimal impact on the site.
If The Root is ever required to be relocated, it can be mounted onto a trailer and driven by truck. The timber platform would then be reconstructed around it.
"Obviously, we don't want to be moving it around all the time, but it's completely possible to relocate it to a different site," said Kasawoo. "A plug-and-play model, so to speak."
Other movable cabins recently featured on Dezeen include The Oculus in Byron Bay by Hayley Prior, a 21-square-metre holiday home which was designed to resemble typical Australian sheds, and the Cocoon Freelancer structure by Maruán Attia, which was informed by Alpine houses and Japanese temples.
The photography is by Jim Stephenson.
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