Kew Tree House Competition

A proposal for Kew Gardens Annual tree house competition:

"The tree canopy where branches break off from the trunk to form a complex array of levels and routes is a site of opportunity and dreams of play often inaccessible simply by virtue of the difficulty of scaling the trunk to get into this environment. The seed idea of this proposal is how to raise the “ground” to this level where the inaccessible world of the tree canopy becomes available for exploration. The architecture is not didactic, instead providing a ground to allow the figuration of the tree branches to inspire responses in the visitors to this site. This platform can be a site of gathering and conversation or of individual exploration and safe climbing around the branches that now sit safely just above this new ground. Through the ramped access it becomes a site for all ages and physical dispositions. 

A base reference in the design is Sverre Fehn’s Nordic Pavillion where a simple grid of structure sets a frame through which the trees pass. In this instance a grid of CLT timber beams and joists provides a structural grain against which the organic nature of the tree is offset."