Treehouse Project
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
Lisa Traxler Download Original
Renovation of a 1970s two-bedroom bungalow into a contemporary family home, including a two storey timber framed extension
The existing dwelling was stripped leaving an unpretentious box. Two new volumes were added to create a courtyard centred in the site. The buildings are connected to the woodland through the use of sliding walls made from timber and glass.
The two-storey extension is clad in burnt larch, with glass slots serving as light paths and private outlooks. Cedar timber projections and abstract colour enamel, help form an expression of density and colour creating a graphic expression of darkness and light.
The arrangement of cascading boxes, forming the family living spaces and the master suite, ascend into the tree canopy, contacting the branches and allowing the ivy and lichen present in the woodland to colonize this new structure over time.
Data
- Begun: Jun 2009
- Completed: Mar 2010
- Sector: House
- Total cost: £180,000
- Address: Treehouse Project, Isle of Wight, PO30, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Lincoln Miles Architecture
- Client: Lisa Traxler and Lincoln Miles
- Structural engineer: Anthony Ballard
- Main contractor: John Peck Construction
- M&E engineer: SEC Electrical
Suppliers
- Timber frame: Sydenhams
- Joinery : The Joinery Shop
- Flooring: Goldman Harrison
- Skylights: Topline Glass
- Timber Cladding: Vincent Timber
- Renewable energy engineer: Future Energy Services
- Specialist glass: Compass Glass