Inhabit Treehouse: A Sustainable Forest Dwelling Concept by Antony Gibbon

The Inhabit Treehouse is one in a series of four eco-friendly house concepts that were conceived by Antony Gibbon. The images featured here are merely rendered visualisations, but the treehouse’s design has since been commissioned to be built on sites in both Italy and Woodstock, New York, and are due to be completed in July 2015.

Unlike most treehouses, Inhabit sits on stilts and isn’t actually dependent on a tree for structural support. As a result Antony Gibbon envisions that his concept dwelling could be installed in either a forested, mountainous, or even a lake setting.

These raised living quarters are accessible only via a ladder which leads to a trapdoor in the floor of the dwelling. This is hardly the most practical entrance arrangement for everyday living but it certainly adds an element of fun to this adult-sized treehouse. A secondary ladder within the treehouse leads to a suspended secondary sleeping area, partly as a space saving measure.

The exterior’s horizontal thin-stripped cedar cladding is complimented by some pretty enormous windows which cover entire walls of the Inhabit Treehouse’s geometric form. The two ends of the structure narrow towards apertures which offer an extraordinary view of the treehouse’s surroundings. Likewise, two opposing walls at the centre of Inhabit’s boxy structure are entirely glazed, and are set at slight angles to optimise the amount of natural light entering the treehouse. A wide skylight also exists above the guest sleeping area to ensure that the treehouse receives natural light at all times of day despite its potentially densely sheltered setting amongst the forest canopy.

A suspended wood burner hovers at the heart of the living area and the exterior’s timber theme is continued in the interior with the same cedar cladding. In fact Anthony Gibbon has visualised virtually all surfaces within his Inhabit Treehouse concept as being finished in differing varieties of wood — although the same weathering that will cause the exterior cedar cladding to silver is unlikely to occur inside.

Some of Antony Gibbons other concept dwellings: Roost, Embryo and Nook accompany the Inhabit Treehouse in his portfolio, and we will be taking a closer look at these individually on Homeli in the future.