This simple and restrained project focuses on the study of place and craft. As part of a design/build program at the Dalhousie University School of Architecture, the project was constructed over three summers by architecture students under the direction of Talbot Sweetapple. The site was a point of intersection between trail and fishing point, hidden among the birches and sheltered by a great oak tree, a thin line of vegetation separating it from the coastline. Local trail users and fishermen needed protection from the elements, and the project evolved to become a pavilion of shelter including aspects of refuge, outlook, and focus.

Consisting of a central gathering space supported by a series of sleeping nooks and totemic elements, Refuge provides a resting place along the trail system to serve local community groups: a warming hut for skiers, a lunch and resting point for a horse riding club, and storage and shelter for local fishermen.