Dublin architects Bates Maher have won the RIBA European Award 2006 for the design of four timber cabins for the Rosminian Order, in Tipperary.

The practice designed the cabins, known as poustinia – a Russian word meaning a small cabin for silence and prayer – to enable the priests to offer accommodation to people on retreat.

The timber frame cabins are constructed from local larch and Douglas fir and three of them cantilever out from the hillside while the fourth “floats” above a river.

“We used rough boards of Douglas fir, but the larch came finished,” said architect Tom Maher. “We tried to develop a pattern by turning one piece of larch on its edge and fixing it through the back of the Douglas fir.

“Inside, the cabins were fitted out in beech while the floors were made of semi-solid oak which was painted.”

As well as the RIBA European Award, the poustinia have won the practice the RIAI Regional Award 2005, OPUS Architecture & Construction Award 2005 and the Downes Medal AAI Awards 2006.

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