Crosson Architects is an Auckland based architectural practice with an exceptional portfolio of work. Ken Crosson and his team have won numerous architectural awards internationally with work being regularly published around the world.

Hut on Sleds is located in the Coromandel, New Zealand. The beach site lies within the coastal erosion zone where all building must be removable. This requirement has been interpreted literally: the hut is designed on two thick wooden sleds for movement back inland or across the beach and onto a barge.

This holiday retreat, measuring a mere 40 square metres, is designed to close up against the elements when not in use. It accommodates a family of five in a kitchen/dining/living area, a bathroom and two sleeping zones: Closed up, the rough macrocarpa cladding blends into the landscape and the hut perches unobtrusively on the dunes. 

The clients sought to explore the real essence of holiday living: small, simple and functional. Inside, every available space is used: there are even secret cubby-holes in the children’s bunks.

The clients’ desire for sustainability is evident in the modest building size, the use of timber in cladding, structure, lining and joinery, and the manually operated mechanisation. Apart from food delivery and non-recyclable waste removal, the hut functions as a self-sustaining organism with rain-catchment tanks, a worm-tank waste system and separate potable and grey-water tanks.