UK treehouse architectural firm, Blue Forest has revealed its prefabricated luxury treehouse exhibit as part of this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Created in collaboration with Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa, the treehouse comprises five main sections, which were all pre-fabricated off site. It is designed as a magical hideaway, inspiring visitors to reconnect with their inner child.
"The inspiration for this year's treehouse is the inner child," Blue Forest tells New Atlas. "We want people to feel excited when they see our designs, to feel like their own dream hideaway in the trees is possible. There's nothing better than spending time in the great outdoors, and we want to encourage children and grownups alike to connect with nature and see how much fun it can be!"
The treehouse is built from approximately 500 m (1,640 ft) of PEFC certified Western Red Cedar cladding, making up the five separate sections that were prefabricated in the Blue Forest workshop. Each section weighed approximately 1.5 tons and was transported via a flat-bed lorry before being carefully craned into position. The entire treehouse took the team seven days to assemble and two days to complete the interior.
"We've certainly started to see the benefits of prefabricated treehouses and believe this has a lot of potential for the future," says Blue Forest. "It's an approach that allows for less waste, so it's an environmentally friendly approach. We also find that the quality of the joinery is much better when built in a workshop environment rather than on site, and its more cost effective for our clients."
The dwelling features two spiral staircases, which lead to the entrance of the treehouse and the large outdoor deck. The interior includes an entrance hall/cloakroom for storing coats and shoes; large open-plan living area; fully functioning kitchenette with fridge and sink; and a cozy reading nook with lots of shelf space for books.
A set of bi-folding doors opens the treehouse to the outdoors, allowing lots of natural light and airflow to enter the home. The treehouse also includes a wicker basket and pulley rope, which hangs on the edge of the deck and can be used for hoisting up toys, books, secret messages or snacks to the treehouse.
"The treehouse needs to be functional but fun," says Blue Forest. "No child wants to walk into a treehouse to see a dull, bare-looking room. We made sure that the design lends itself to its intended purpose, with lots of storage and floor space to cater for various activities. The reading nook is certainly a lovely feature, with a beautifully curved window seat and shelf for books and other storage."
After the RHS Cheslea Flower Show, the treehouse will be dismantled and transported to its new woodland home within the grounds of the Chewton Glen Hotel, where it will be used as part of the hotel's kids club. In addition, Blue Forest has its sights on further developing and refining its prefabrication methods, with hopes to deliver treehouses more efficiently and to export them more easily around the globe.
"As always, our goal is to carry on pushing the boundaries of what is possible, improving our techniques and creating ever more astounding designs," says Blue Forest. "We've got a few exciting projects in the pipeline, but we can't share too many details. We're seeing our projects become more and more varied with bridged, suspended adventure nets and zipwires and we've been working on a very exciting project in India, building a treehouse playground on the seventh floor of the World Towers skyscraper in Mumbai, which is going to be the tallest building in India when finished."
The treehouse can be found on the Main Avenue of RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which is open to the public from the 21st to 25th May 2019.
Source: Blue Forest