Tree [in] House

3

Information

Client: Private
Budget: N/A
Location: Undisclosed
Status: Concept Design

Tree [in] House is a proposal for an elevated structure located in the grounds of a school, enveloping an existing tree. The proposal is for the benefit of 12 year olds onward and would cater to a wide range of activities within a range of different spaces with different qualities that serve to create a rich experience and invite the imagination.

This is primarily a place for creative play with minimal prescriptive input. A place where occupants are encouraged to explore and take controlled risks. A place that could change and grow over time through the inhabitant’s input and engagement with it.

The structure itself draws inspiration from Segal Method self build timber frames and traditional Japanese timber detailing. The modular nature of the structural system would facilitate a phased construction of the tree house; allowing the school community to start implementing at a small scale.

We envisage this growing organically over time in a number of phases linked both to fundraising and feedback from the community of users. The first construction phase or ‘seed’ originates adjacent to an existing tree.

We have sought to strike a balance between keeping a safe distance between structure and tree (to safeguard the tree’s health) whilst incorporating the tree into the structural grid. This is no longer a tree house in the traditional sense of a structure supported by (and strangling) a tree but a tree in a house. The structure will grow up and out around the tree, creating opportunities to bring green into very close proximity. The structure and the tree are intimately related.