Melbourne designer Robbie Walker has crafted an elevated steel cabin that resembles a “sculpture in the trees” within a dense forest in Victoria, Australia. This unique residence, called Sawmill Treehouse, is situated on a steeply sloped site in Sawmill Settlement, a suburb near the Mount Buller ski resort in the Victorian Alps, an area commonly referred to as the High Country.
Walker described the cabin as a sanctuary for his client, intended for “escape, relaxation, and reflection,” with a design that honors the site’s natural beauty and its majestic snow gum trees. In creating this retreat, Walker faced the challenge of preserving the existing trees and navigating around a gully. This gully, which historically served as a water discharge path for neighboring homes, occupies a location offering the most stunning views of the forest.
Designer:
As a solution, Walker elevated the Sawmill Treehouse on four slender posts, enabling people, vehicles, and rainwater to move freely beneath it. Constructed on-site with a structural steel frame, the cabin features a rectangular design that measures 12 meters in length and 4 meters in width. The roof, sides, and underside are clad in slats of dark brown weathered steel, which allow sunlight to filter in while shielding the cabin from summer heat.
“The slatted steel reflects light in a similar way to leaves on a tree, more than a big flat sheet of steel would,” said Walker. “It will help the building to breathe in a hot Australian summer and also help to hide any services, allowing the building to sit more like a sculpture in the trees and not clutter the site.”
Inside the cabin, a bedroom and bathroom branch off from the main hallway, which connects to a kitchen and living area. In this living space, a full-span “wall of glass” faces north, offering views through the gully. Given the site’s location in a zone with a very high risk of bushfires, Walker had to adhere to specific development regulations for the project.
This included incorporating openable windows with permanently fixed fly screens to prevent embers from nearby fires from entering. To eliminate the need for a fly screen, he cleverly angled the lower section of the glass, allowing the vents to sit flat—one flush with the floor and the other in the horizontal glazing bar.
The interior showcases a minimalist palette designed to evoke a sense of calm and warmth, with the walls, ceiling, and floors all clad in Victorian ash wood. This material is also featured in the construction of a built-in sofa and vent covers, as well as the cabin’s internal doors and cabinetry. At ground level, the Sawmill Treehouse includes a garage built on a flatter section of the site. This area features an outdoor kitchen and a laundry, which can be accessed by driving beneath the house.
“I think building less and being less greedy is maybe more important than even material choices, and when the system suits the opposite it is very impressive to have the courage to see it through,” said Walker. “I think it is that the site still feels as special as it did when the client bought the land.”
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