The E’terra Samara eco-resort in Ontario, Canada is set to see the addition of a series of suspended treehouse villas. Nestled at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, the resort, which is currently home to LEED Gold certified accommodation, will install 12 new one-bedroom treetop villas over the coming winter months. Designed by Canadian studio Farrow Partnership Architects, the eco-huts are designed to be suspended in the tree tops overlooking Georgian Bay.
Pod-like in design, the E’terra Samara treehouse villas are similar to the Redwoods Treehouse in New Zealand, but much smaller in size. Equipped with modest furnishings, they will provide guests with simple comforts and could soon become the next-best thing to a night out on a portaledge, or treetop camping.
Adopting construction techniques often used to build light-weight wooden sailing boats, each treehouse structure will be prefabricated off-site in three sections. Made from locally-harvested FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified wood, the curved villa frames will then be suspended from a steel shoulder and cable system that hugs the tree trunk.
“The structure is designed to be suspended from the tree's trunk, rather than following the common practice of nailing to the tree,” says Farrow Partnership Architects. “Thereby hugging the tree rather than piercing its flesh.”
Designed to resist a variety of weather conditions, the treehouse features a protection bonnet made from PTFE fiberglass-coated non-toxic and flame-resistant TiO2 (titanium dioxide) fabric. “Materials have been chosen for their inherent economical qualities” says Farrow Partnership Architects. “They are non-toxic and transparently-sourced from socially equitable origins.”
The one-bedroom treehouses will also be equipped with composting toilets and eco-friendly showers that will feed gray water back into the forest system. While the huts won’t require a lot of electricity, energy will be supplied from a decentralized photovoltaic power grid.
Guests staying at the E’terra Samara eco-resort also have access to an on-site day spa and sauna, seasonal salt water pool reservoir, lavender labyrinth garden and several nature walking trails.
Source: Farrow Partnership Architects via Inhabitat
