Your Life, Elevated.
The client came to me wanting a design aesthetic similar to that of the horizontal slatted Lotus. However, once I did a site audit and saw their steep terraced hill location with a very vertical aesthetic I realized that horizontal slats wouldn’t make sense with the environment. So instead, I produced a few different scopes of vertically slatted treehouses, and decided upon this dual level barrel. They loved that it was an open deck but with a cozy clubhouse type feel.
Hung in a California Live Oak, the construction of this treehouse consists of two doug fir decks supported by steel rings. The first level is reached by rope ladder entry leading to a platform where you can step onto first floor (this is a safety system, to keep anyone from falling through the entry). There are large steps leading between the two floors, and the upper deck is accessible through via trap door. One of the step serves as a large storage container for the kids toys. Encircling the platforms are 80 curved 1′ x 8′ wood slats, which are tilted to create a blind effect. The structure is suspended by cable from a girdle, which stabilizes it against the tree.
