Visitors now reach the cabin at roof level, stepping onto a planted terrace that concentrates bathing facilities and reshapes the arrival experience. The blocky Bather's Cabin, set in woodland in East Sussex, is capped by a lush rooftop garden that contains a sauna, a hot tub and an ice bath. Built Works said, "We wanted the rooftop deck to be devoted entirely to the ritual of bathing." The studio added that the terrace was intended to feel both rooted in the woodland and slightly transportive, and that a raised boardwalk floats above the planting to allow guests to move through it.
Positioned at the foot of a steep bank beside a small stream, the cabin sits so visitors approach at the level of the roof before descending into the interior. It is one of several timber structures Built Works made for its hospitality arm, Architects Holiday, at Great Park Farm, alongside a Yogi's Cabin and a Drying Shed Sauna.
The building has a protective, monolithic presence, resolved in a stepped exterior that references nearby 1960s granaries. The facade is tiered larch, sourced from a local sawmill and blackened with pine tar to soften the silhouette and help the form merge with the trees. The rooftop planting is composed of mosses, grasses and ferns taken from the plot, a deliberate move to give the impression that a piece of woodland floor has been lifted into place.
Inside, a cross-shaped plan frames views to north, south, east and west and arranges functions around an open central point. Doors are kept to a minimum and curtains supply soft divisions where privacy is required. The project prioritises natural, local and minimally processed materials and a craft-led approach: bathroom tiles were made by Built Works co-director Harry Kay with his family and carry imprints of flowers and his children's fingerprints. Curtains were block-printed with the cabin's floor plan, furniture was carved from blocks of cedar, and an inlaid woodblock floor was hand-cut on site from English oak. UK-grown and processed hemp is used as insulation.
Built Works was founded in 2018 by Harry Kay with Will Gowland. Photography for the project is credited to Connor Duffy. The cabin forms part of the cluster of specialist holiday structures at Great Park Farm and positions bathing as a landscape-facing, communal ritual rather than a concealed interior act.
