Ranging from minimalist elevated meditation cabins to complex climate-controlled company meeting spaces, the many treehouse creations of German company Baumraum offer unconventional and often strikingly modern silhouettes in natural settings. Custom-designed and costing anywhere from $25,000 to nearly $200,000, these treehouses and treehouse hotels are places for adventure and retreat amongst the foliage.
Treehouse Halle
Stairs ascend through a hole in the roof of a garage on a German property, spiraling around an oak tree to reach the Treehouse Halle. Baumraum set this zinc and wood structure 11 meters above the ground as a sleeping and relaxation space, supported by two steel stilts anchored to the lower part of the tree. A double-sized bed peeks out a large window onto the surrounding landscape.
Almke Treehouse
A lucky scout group in Wolfsburg, Germany gets to meet at this elevated clubhouse constructed around a pine tree, with two almost-identical wooden volumes set at staggered heights within the forest canopy. The Almke Treehouse provides a place to gather, eat and sleep, with the lower volume full of bunk beds for eight.
Treehouse Djuren
An elliptical volume with egg-like sides seems to float above a wooded family property in Northern Germany, supported on a series of four stilts around two are oak trees. Sleeping benches covered in gray felt offer a comfortable perch from which to look out onto the trees.
Treehouse Solling
Treehouse Solling hovers above a pond like something out of a fairytale, an unusual two-story structure with a rounded roof punctured by a skylight. The treehouse serves as a sleeping place and observation point connected to a nearby forester’s cabin via a cable-suspended bridge. Like most of Baumraum’s structures, the outside is covered in zinc plating and the inside is lined with timber.
Treehouse in Belgium
This treehouse was envisioned as the perfect place for a paper company to brainstorm about sustainability among nature. Located in a forest in Belgium, the climate-controlled space is a lot more like a conventional building than most treehouses, containing a kitchen, lounge and restroom as well as a ventilation system and motion-sensor LED lights. It offers all the comforts of a meeting space within an office, but in an environment that’s a lot more conducive to creative thinking.