Meditation Cabin

Katie Rit’hrod Buddhist Retreat Center

Murray, Arkansas

The cabin will be the home for a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, The sloping, wooded site is within a small community of practitioners and monastics who have land adjacent to their teacher’s retreat center in northwest Arkansas.

The conditioned space of the cabin is a mere 340 square feet. It is off-the-grid, heated with a wood stove, powered by photovoltaic cells, and passively cooled through careful window placement. The single pitched roof integrates a catchment system to collect water for cleaning and washing. A screened entrance porch doubles on warm nights as a hammock room. A shrine at the South end is the cabin’s focal point.

Construction is simple. Wall panels fit into a pier and beam foundation. Erection is staged vertically so that the entire structure can be built and raised by a few neighbors using simple tools. Wherever possible, local materials will be sourced.

Commissioned Project: 2021