“It’s the treehouse we all dreamed of as children but could only make as an adult fantasy,” explains principal architect Peter Eising of the Yellow Treehouse Restaurant, currently under construction. The striking pod-shaped structure built in a redwood tree near Warkworth, will soon become home to what is believed to be New Zealand’s only treehouse restaurant.
The treehouse restaurant is part of an advertising campaign by Yellow Pages (makers of the telephone book and online Yellow Pages) and is designed by Pacific Environment Architects NZ Ltd.
“The architectural component embodies a simple oval, or cocoon, form wrapped organically around the tree’s trunk and featuring two internal levels,” explains Lucy Gauntlett, an architect with Pacific Environment Architects. “Designed to account for the site’s sunny aspect, the treehouse will be clad with vertical timber glue laminated radiata fins which will aid natural cooling”.
The chrysalis-like treehouse will house the restaurant’s dining room with seating for eighteen people plus staff, while the kitchen and other facilities will be located on the ground. The finished building will be almost 10m wide and over 12m high, with the split-level floor sitting 10m off the ground. Openings are formed for windows by leaving spaces between the slats to preserve the overall form while allowing openness for the views and light. Access to the treehouse will be provided by an elevated 60m tree-top walkway.
Eising explained that care has been taken in minimising the project’s impact on the surrounding forest.
“By its very nature a treehouse sits above its environment and thus no lasting impact is made at ground level. But we’ve also been very careful with the trees,” he explains. “We involved an arborist to help select a robust tree and the one we’ve chosen is about 40 years old”.
The project started on 22nd October and is expected to be finished in mid-December 2008.
For more information visit: http://www.yellowtreehouse.co.nz and http://www.pacificenvironments.co.nz
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