The Tiny Kiwi Meditation Cabin competition called for a small, tranquil retreat within a clearing of native New Zealand bush at Earth Energies Sanctuary. The brief sought a space for meditation, healing and the processing of natural flower essences, bringing together architecture, landscape and the sanctuary’s wider commitment to natural remedies and ecological wellbeing. The cabin needed to accommodate four guests and a teacher, capture sunlight for several hours each day, and be practical to construct using locally sourced materials within a remote setting.

My response explored a space modelled on the shape and skeletal structure of a kiwi bird, translating the distinctive form of this native species into an architectural expression. The exterior colours were selected to attract bees, connecting the cabin to the sanctuary’s existing bee yards and the surrounding flora. This relationship between form, colour and ecology was intended to support the local harvesting of flowers for medicinal essences and refined oils used in health treatments, allowing the building to become more than a place of retreat: an active part of the natural cycle of healing.