Ten years ago I was obsessed with staying at a Swedish ice hotel. The closest I came was having a shot of Aquavit in an ice cube glass at Quebec City’s ice hotel bar, running my mittened hand over the deerskin blankets that covered the beds and freezing my toes off gawking at the amazing and abundant ice sculptures.
My obsession has shifted to craving a stay in one of the lofty tree houses at the Treehotel in Harads, Sweden in a forest high above the Lule River valley.
Treehotel was inspired by the film ”The Tree Lover” by Jonas Selberg Augustsen. It’s a tale of three men from the city who want to go back to their roots by building a tree house together. “The Tree Lover” is a philosophic story about the significance of trees for us human beings.
Each architect-designed “treeroom” is unique and was built with minimal environmental impact using eco-friendly materials and energy solutions.
The stunningly, almost invisible “Mirrorcube” is hidden among the trees and camouflaged by reflective glass that reflects its surroundings.
To prevent birds from flying into the mirrored walls, they are clad with infrared film. The color is invisible to humans, but visible to the birds.
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“The Blue Cone”, which actually is red, is based on simplicity and accessibility, both in terms of material and design. Its traditional wooden structure, with three foundations in the ground, gives the sense of height, lightness and stability.
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“The Bird’s Nest” is my favorite. Its exterior is nothing but a gigantic twiggy bird’s nest that disappears into its surroundings. The sleek interior defies Its rustic shell.
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Cast in durable composite material that is both strong and light, “The UFO” is the complete opposite of The Bird’s Nest with its space age sleek shape and porthole windows.
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To access “The Cabin”, a cube-like capsule, one must traverse a horizontal bridge among the trees. There’s a splendid view from its rooftop deck.
The Scandinavian-modern interiors are ingeniously compact and cozy looking and do not give the impression of being too cramped. They even have bathrooms. Treehotel’s website has more photos and nice floor plans for each “treeroom”.
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Tags: architecture, design inspiration, travel, Tree house
This is just too cool for words. I want to live in the nest.
I love these!
Wow! This is just crazy! You blog about this, I’m native swede, interested in design and hardly know about it!!!!! What does that say about me … or the swedes lack of advertising themselves … Thank you for sharing this! I must definitely go there with my family, the kids will LOVE it! :)
//Maria