Canadian designer Nicko Björn Elliott has completed a child’s play house wrapped around a tree in Toronto.
The wooden structure is supported on pillars above an S-shaped bench at the base of the tree and features a pole for the children to slide down.
Shaded by the branches above, it is clad in translucent fibreglass.
Photographs are by Jesse Colin Jackson.
Here’s some more information from Nicko Björn Elliott:
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Eight year-old Jorin and his big sister Matana, ten, sought a tree fort refuge on their downtown Toronto property to evoke the pleasures of cottage country during busy summers in the city.
Rather than being constructed on the tree, the project wraps itself around the mature pine tree and is supported on three pilotis above an S-shaped bench that skirts around the columns, tree trunk and slide pole.
With ample shading provided by low hanging boughs, a translucent corrugated fiberglass was used to clad the project. Throughout the day, the opalescent skin transmits the movement of shadows from the exterior to the interior.
The slats on the interior were painted colours selected by Jorin and Matana on three sides which, depending on the sun, reflects colour back onto the skin.
January 13th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
it looks like a hunting blind
January 13th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Really good crafting with interesting choice of materials. What kind of wood did he use on the structure?
Also, I see it as both a creative and innovative project.
Nice work man!
January 13th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Salam,
Appears to be built from pressure treated spruce.
January 14th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
TREE house????? More like raised cube under tree.
January 14th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
ehi, are we joking or what?
or shall I send Dezeen all the small works the old people of my town did for their kids through the years?
January 15th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Cool. I would’ve went for a slide instead of fireman’s pole. ;-) I really like the translucent fiberglass. I bet there are other colors. Would’ve been interesting to see different colors of the tranlucent fiberglass used, instead of just the generic white/clear one.
January 17th, 2010 at 11:36 am
this is another example of contemporary design:
things that “sound” like something, even though they’re not. This work should be named “House with a tree in the middle”.
January 20th, 2010 at 5:02 am
Lucky kids – I had a box …. of the cardboard variety : (