Location: Brunswick East, Melbourne

Status: In Progress

The notion of a treehouse fires the imagination and evokes images of lightweight timber structures propped up on stilts in the tree canopy. The sensation of looking outward from a high vantage point and also being enveloped in dappled light falling through the leaves is at the core of the tree house experience. 

The Treehouse is an extension to a single fronted terrace located in Melbourne’s inner north. While the site itself is heavily constrained in its proportions, the views from the rear yard are expansive, defined by layered greenery. Evergreen pittosporums and deciduous English Elms in a park located adjacent to the property’s rear boundary form a backdrop. The relationship between the trees and the site changes throughout the year as the tree’s physical form, together with the light and shadow they cast, evolve with the changing seasons. Through the layering of translucent building elements interacting with sunlight, complex patterns of light and shadow fill each space. The upper level addition has been designed to provide continuous panoramic views to the park; over the neighbouring rooftops; and back towards the city, emulating the feeling of climbing a tree and looking out to the world beyond.

Materially, the Treehouse is a lightweight timber structure perched above a solid masonry base. The textural brick base is nestled into the garden and includes raised planters that establish a seamless relationship between the house and the site’s existing greenery. The space between the solid brick ground floor and the lightweight timber structure is bridged by generous windows that deliver abundant natural light and opportunities for passive ventilation throughout the living areas.

The Treehouse is grounded and cosy, while being liberated and playful. It is transformative in its transition from the sombre, introspective rooms of the original house to living areas that are spatially inventive and filled with light, texture and curated expansive views to the garden and tree canopies beyond.