London-based architectural firm Simon Gill Architects has designed the Fishing Lodge. Completed in 2012, this 3,122 square foot contemporary house in Batak, Bulgaria, was built partially into the hillside in order to reduce the impact on the landscape and the environment. The brief was for a four bedroom holiday house in the mountains of Bulgaria, overlooking a large lake, to be used as a base from which to launch fishing trips. The building’s form is generated by the particularities of the site and the extreme temperature range. The bedrooms and bathrooms are built into the hill in order to maintain a constant temperature, whilst the living areas are in a highly insulated volume, gently curved and clad in dark timber in order to blend into the surrounding trees. The house thus reduces its impact on the natural setting and the environment generally, through its use of solar panels for hot water and a wood burning stove to power the central heating.
