Bernd Riegger's see-through timber cabin provides shelter for a forest kindergarten
Openings in the walls of this wooden shelter in Austria create display compartments where children can show off treasures collected from the trails of the surrounding forest (+ slideshow).
![Bernd Riegger's see-through Forest Refuge cabin provides shelter for a woodland kindergarten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
Local architect Bernd Riegger was asked to create the shelter for Waldeulen (Forest Owls), a children's charity providing outdoor education and play schemes in the Spielraum Waldis forest playground in Wolfurt, a municipality in western Austria.
![Bernd Riegger's see-through Forest Refuge cabin provides shelter for a woodland kindergarten](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
The organisation asked for a shelter that would allow the education programme – which includes an outdoor kindergarten for preschool-aged children and schemes for older adolescents – to continue during inclement weather.
The cabin gives children and teachers a place to take refuge from the cold or rain and enjoy their packed lunches.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
"It provides freedom to play in a fairytale setting that inspires the imagination though playful learning in an ecologically-friendly environment," explained Riegger, who designed the structure in 2011.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
Named Waldsetzkasten, which translates as Forest Display Case, the simple gabled structure has an exposed rough-sawn spruce framework and an asphalt shingle roof.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
The exposed framework functions as an exposed shelving unit, allowing children to present objects and creatures collected from the woodland. This transforms the building into a cabinet of curiosities.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
"The surrounding display areas are used by the children, for example, as a place to store and exhibit all the wonderful things they have found, as an insect hotel, or even as a place to leave food for the forest inhabitants," explained the architect.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
"Once all the shelf spaces have been filled by the children, the facade is complete," he added.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
A covered porch with open sides provides an entrance to the building. Inside, a large window offers occupants a view of the forest while they warm up and eat.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
Low benches are built into walls lined with pale spruce tongue-and-groove panelling. Thick ceiling rafters are left exposed, while a small triangular window sits within the apex of one gabled wall.
![Forest Refuge by Bernd Riegger Architektur](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/02/Forest-Refuge-by-Bernd-Riegger-Architektur_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
Photography is by Adolf Bereuter.
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