the modernist x BDP London present - The BDP Talk Series. 1.3 - Peter Halliday - Cabinology - in search of the mid-century holiday home

Cabinology – in search of the mid-century holiday home 

Today, the words “architect- designed holiday home” may conjure up images of a dramatic cliff-top villa complete with infinity pool, bi-fold doors, plenty of glass and light, and perhaps some tasteful cedar cladding or Corten steel sheeting thrown in for good measure. 

Back in the post-war era, it was all very different. Many of the biggest beasts in the architectural jungle – the likes of Basil Spence, the Smithsons, and even Le Corbusier – designed their own holiday homes. And they typically went for basic, cabin-like structures: carefully considered, modestly sized, simply furnished, primarily constructed from wood, and very close to nature. 

The approach spilled over into the mainstream. Cabin park developers across the UK, keen to instil some glitz and glamour into their prospective resorts, commissioned renowned regional architects to conjure up something special.

Examples include designs by Mervyn Seal in the Southwest, Morris & Steedman in Scotland, and Hird & Brooks in Wales. 

As well as emulating the work of their high-profile peers, they often borrowed from the lively summerhouse cultures of Scandinavia and Central Europe. 

In this talk, we take a scamper through this largely forgotten genre of modernist architecture.To set the context, we look at several standout examples from the UK, Europe and the USA.  We then zero in on the work of Hird & Brooks. Celebrated Welsh architects, they are best known for a series of impossibly sleek, Scandi-style modernist villas scattered across the Vale of Glamorgan, for which they won 17 major awards. But the self-proclaimed highlight of their glittering careers was their work in holiday cabins – including a couple of little-known parks in Wales, with outliers in Cornwall, Yorkshire and Argyll. 

The talk is by Peter Halliday, a writer, photographer and proud owner of a near-pristine Hird & Brooks cabin. He is also the author of How Grey Was My Valley, a photo-zine of Welsh post-war architecture; co-author of Braw Concrete, a celebration of Glasgow’s brutalist architecture; and co-author of Cabin Crew, from which much of the talk is drawn. 

Copies of Cabin Crew will be available on the night