Nolla Cabin

With their Journey to Zero campaign, launching the summer of 2018, Finnish renewable energy company
Neste was looking for ways to build a world with minimal emissions. The first lap of this journey, the
Nolla cabin, was a challenge for me to design and demonstrate a way of living that has a minimal carbon
footprint in every aspect.

Renew & Relocate

The cabin functions entirely on renewable energy and excludes most modern commodities. The
cabin itself is a compact and entirely mobile 10m 2 dwelling, that can be assembled, dissembled and
transported without any heavy machinery. It demonstrates a low-impact daily life, that is based on
self-sufficiency and renewable solutions – thus generating minimal to no emissions.

Pick your view

Located on Vallisaari, one of the most diverse islands in the Helsinki archipelago, Nolla is a
compelling space for simple living in the realm of nature – yet in the immediate proximity of the
Helsinki city centre. The cabin and its surroundings offer an excellent environment for a relaxing getaway from everyday life, where visitors have the chance to wind down and distance themselves from their daily routines and obligations.

One aspect that I wanted to bring to the design is movability. Why tear up the surroundings and leave the environment in pieces to slowly recover. Having a solution you can carry by hand to the chosen location you can start enjoying your stay as if it always been there - or hasn't.

Cradle-to-cradle

The cabin structures have been fastened together with screws, so it can be taken apart and put back together like a puzzle. The pedestals are adjustable, so that the cabin can adapt to different kinds of terrain. In essence, there are no special parts used in building it – a replica of any part can be made from scratch by anyone, all they need is timber.

The culture of repairing things is disappearing, and we’re quick to buy a replacement rather than fix what we already have – but that’s not a very sustainable way of living. I find modern-day helplessness and the inability to make things with our own hands slightly scary, so I wanted to make the cabin easily repairable and thus give it an infinite number of life cycles.

Enjoy more with less

The cabin and its surroundings offer an excellent environment for a relaxing getaway from everyday life, where visitors have the chance to wind down and distance themselves from their daily routines and obligations.

For more information about the campaign, please visit https://www.neste.com/news-and-insights/nolla-cabin-cabin-life-without-trace