Besides the Reformed church, this late-19th-century barn is one of the village’s striking features. Originally built as a stable and cart shelter, it later fell into disuse before being reimagined as a retreat of a special kind: a ‘hut for a boy from Nesslau' to reconnect with his own origins and the local culture, in harmony with nature. Sliding open the barn door reveals a spacious, double-height space where the client parks his car before climbing a back stair to access a raised platform. From there, he can enter the studio itself, a modest refuge hidden in the barn made for weekend stays. The space is designed to be as simple as a hermit’s cabin: a wood-burning stove with hob and sink, a bathroom cubicle, and a foldaway sleeping bench concealed behind cupboards. A single large window frames spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, the retreat’s only direct link to the outside world.

The project aimed at preserving the historic structure of the barn. Minimal repairs and targeted interventions were carried out, while original materials were conserved wherever possible. The shingle underlay, the knitting and the façade have been preserved almost in their entirety. Roof tiles have been salvaged and reused, and old bricks recovered from a demolished regional barn were repurposed as flooring. Inside, the newly built studio was designed as a freestanding structure, structurally independent from the barn. It was built in timber with dry connections, without glue, so that the studio can be dismantled in the future, if necessary, without compromising the integrity of the barn.