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Treetop House
Treetop House
Magrath, Canada
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Other Projects by 010110 | Architecture + Urbanism
Treetop House
Magrath, Canada
Type
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2010
SIZE
1000 sqft - 3000 sqft
BUDGET
$10K - 50K
This is a place of playful imagination, childhood serendipity and family gatherings.
The Treetop House sits reverently in a protected coulee depression amid old cottonwood trees on acres of southern Alberta prairie. Initially an ambition to create a place for the enjoyment of several grandchildren, the work has become a seasonal destination area for both spontaneous and planned family gatherings and other social events. In the act of making, the often assumed prerequisite of expense is proven inessential to succeed in architecture.
Constructed in loving service by extended family, the project facilitates social play-making in a natural outdoor rural setting. Grandchildren occupying the Treetop House have described tales of frequent contextual transformation - into the defensible 'fortification' protecting occupants against advancing (imaginary) attackers or an evening movie theatre and basecamp for summer sleepovers for the more adventurous youth. The unreachable high tree canopy from the ground is now always safely within arms length.
The 'farmhouse' vernacular is appropriate to this prairie context and materials are permitted to weather. Views expand between openings in the tree canopy toward the Rocky Mountains, Pothole Creek coulee and vast prairie skies. Southern Alberta winds are diffused through the horizontal clad open joint rough sawn wood fenestration obtained locally. The treetop house employs two defensible elevated balconies which cantilever from the principle structure and orient to key views. A simple dumbwaiter and hatch access system allow conveyance of overnight supplies and other gear while openings for balloon missiles and water guns have been strategically located by the grandchildren themselves. The balconies provide a high perch for spotting wildlife and , under grandpa's supervision, becomes shooting points for archery practice into round bales many meters distant.
The project continues to spark evolving ideas of expansion among the family. Slated work in the future includes completing a 23 foot high practice climbing wall and installing an exit zip-line off the north-east balcony.
The Treetop House sits reverently in a protected coulee depression amid old cottonwood trees on acres of southern Alberta prairie. Initially an ambition to create a place for the enjoyment of several grandchildren, the work has become a seasonal destination area for both spontaneous and planned family gatherings and other social events. In the act of making, the often assumed prerequisite of expense is proven inessential to succeed in architecture.
Constructed in loving service by extended family, the project facilitates social play-making in a natural outdoor rural setting. Grandchildren occupying the Treetop House have described tales of frequent contextual transformation - into the defensible 'fortification' protecting occupants against advancing (imaginary) attackers or an evening movie theatre and basecamp for summer sleepovers for the more adventurous youth. The unreachable high tree canopy from the ground is now always safely within arms length.
The 'farmhouse' vernacular is appropriate to this prairie context and materials are permitted to weather. Views expand between openings in the tree canopy toward the Rocky Mountains, Pothole Creek coulee and vast prairie skies. Southern Alberta winds are diffused through the horizontal clad open joint rough sawn wood fenestration obtained locally. The treetop house employs two defensible elevated balconies which cantilever from the principle structure and orient to key views. A simple dumbwaiter and hatch access system allow conveyance of overnight supplies and other gear while openings for balloon missiles and water guns have been strategically located by the grandchildren themselves. The balconies provide a high perch for spotting wildlife and , under grandpa's supervision, becomes shooting points for archery practice into round bales many meters distant.
The project continues to spark evolving ideas of expansion among the family. Slated work in the future includes completing a 23 foot high practice climbing wall and installing an exit zip-line off the north-east balcony.
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