We offer pre-designed construction plans, affordable customizations, contractor referrals, as well as advisory services for planning and materials sourcing.
2. What do we do ?
We are a team of architectural designers, and engineers pushing the creative envelope for small high end building design. We are on a mission to create beautiful escapes for discerning clients, who want an alternative to typical standardised approach to huts and dens.
We also provide advisory services for customers seeking design, sourcing, and planning support.
3. What is the process?
We start with an initial call to establish the outline and guage project feasibility and an intial render for free. If you are keen to pursue, we will arrange a Survey and Architectural Drawing pack, charged at £750.
Once you are happy with the outline designs, and wish to pursue the project, we will produce a detailed set of technical drawings and work with you to select a contractor who can quote for the works. Cost £3,900
If you require planning permission, we can help you with this in terms of both offering planning consultancy (handling the entire process) as well as preparing the appropriate scaled drawings and blocks plans. Cost: £2,500
4. What is covered in the initial call
The initial call enables us to understand what you are looking to achieve and an opportunity to provide some immediate advice and feedback from the buildings that we have designed. There are numerous uses from home offices, accommodation, gyms, art studios and saunas.
From here, you can decide whether you wish you invest in the Survey and Architectural design package for £750 .
5. Do your cabins require planning permission?
The vast majority do not, but we always suggest that we ask the question at the early stages of the design process. We are able to do some initial checks on your behalf. The general rule is that if you are not in a listed house and your project is 2m from your boundary, you should be ok without. It is always the clients’ responsibility to check.
6. What's included in the Survey and Architectural design Package?
At this stage, you start to see what we can design for you. You will get a minimum of 2 designs, which include floor plans and layouts depiciting your use case (e.g. family room, gym, home office etc.) and a render of the cabin set within a photograph of your space. You can make as many iterations as you like, building towards a design outcome that you are happy with.
7. What's included in the Technical and Build Package?
Priced at £3,900. This document includes everything you need to construct your project.
You will receive a comprehensive construction documentation with complete dimensions, details, and bill of materials.
The package includes essential planning tools like materials quantities lists, as well as a specific brands and products fixtures and accessories guide. You'll also get CAD files and material sample packs. This package provides all the documentation and support needed to bring your project to life, with your chosen contractor.
8. What's included in the Planning Package?
Priced at £2,500.
We will make the application on your behalf, that includes council fees and dialogue with the authorities throughout the process, including any feedback and possible objections. This fee includes the drawings in the format that the council requires, including the block plans. This fee does not include the application fee, which is paid directly to your local authority.
9. What details are in the plans?
Your plan set has everything you need to bring your cabin to life. It starts with clear floor and foundation plans that map out every detail of the layout; from wall placement to windows and doors.
Beautiful exterior elevations show exactly how your cabin will look, highlighting design details, finishes, and materials. Step-by-step building sections and illustrations make it easy for your builder to understand how everything fits together—from the ground up.
Thoughtfully designed electrical and lighting layouts help you create the perfect atmosphere, with schedules and specifications included.
To make the process smooth and stress-free, the plan also provides organized schedules for windows, doors, plumbing, and rooms—so material ordering and construction planning are simple and accurate. And to help you fully visualize your design, we include 3D diagrams that bring the details to life in a way 2D drawings cannot.
10. Does OTTO build cabins?
We do not build cabins ourselves, we work with a trusted network of contractors including the Hutsmith build team who can help you turn our plans into reality. They will provide the build quotes alongside the appropriate accreditations and warranties.
11. Can I design my own cabin
You can! Simply send us your rough sketches and we will work up drawings and iterated accordingly to get to a result that works for you. If you are a designer, you are welcome to submit a ‘Design Style’, we will then credit you with that and pay £1,000 as a royalty for any cabin sold within your design thesis. The only caveat is that it has to be straightforward to construct and that it is markedly different from our existing design styles
12. Does Hutsmith design homes?
When is a large cabin a small house? Many of our projects include toilets, kitchens and bathrooms with mezzanine sleeping. So, you could say, we build very small (single story) houses!
13. What changes can I make to my plans?
All of our plans can be customized to suit. Common modifications include adjusting windows and doors, reconfiguring interior layouts, changing exterior finishes, adapting kitchen layouts, and altering structural elements like foundations or roof pitch. While simple amends to a finalised plan start at £500, more substantial modifications like adding rooms or changing square footage are also possible.
14. Are our plans designed with DIYers in mind?
Our plans are tailored more towards those collaborating with professionals, like general contractors or specialized builders. This approach ensures that the unique features and design intricacies of our buildings are executed to the highest standard.
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15. What materials do you use?
With regard to the structure, we only build in timber for the core construction. But that does not mean we are limited with regard to the final design outcome. There are thousands of brilliant building designs across the world over the last few centuries and we reference some of these in our journal and newsletters.
Externally, we lean towards various timbers (mostly larch) that can be charred in a shu-sugi-ban process for an authentic Japanese black finish. However, there are a multitude of options that include coloured metal corrugate, or Viroc that comes in a lovely terracotta or poured cement type finish. There are numerous slips that we can hang on the walls including shingles.
For some cabins – especially flat roofed, we will encourage a dialogue around cladding patterns, a change of the design can be achieved by adopting a shingle layout over standard cladding.
We will present you with material packages and samples which will also be annotated on the final design packages.
