Eco Forest Lodges

We were involved in this project before construction had begun. Two luxury eco lodges were planned for a sheltered clearing above Ravenstonedale, and the architect wanted the glazing settled at design stage rather than chosen once the frame was standing.

From those earliest conversations we worked alongside both the architect and the builder — advising on glazing sizes, sightlines, opening configurations, structural opening tolerances and installation detailing. Decisions that are often left until the shell is closed were taken while the drawings were still moving.

The objective was straightforward and difficult in equal measure: maximise the woodland views while keeping the simple architectural language of the lodges intact. Every window was positioned to frame a particular part of the landscape — a stand of larch, a fall of ground, the fells beyond the tree line — so the interiors are bright without ever feeling glazed for the sake of it.

The large fixed picture windows carry the views. Alunet aluminium was chosen for its slim sightlines and its ability to hold big spans of glass with very little frame, and the anthracite black finish lets the openings read as clean voids cut through the vertical timber cladding rather than as objects applied to it.

Alunet French door sets take the same visual language down to ground level, giving each lodge a direct connection out to the woodland floor. Glazing was installed before completion, sequenced with the builder so the lodges were weathertight at the right point in the programme.

The result is a pair of contemporary forest lodges where the glazing feels like an integral part of the architecture rather than an afterthought — quiet, consistent, and entirely in service of the view.