The designs will form part of the ‘Treehouses at Kew’ Exhibition, which will open to the public in Spring 2023.
The judging panel, which included Kunle Barker, Manijeh Verghese, Oliver Wainwright, Morag Myerscough, and Simon Allford, were looking for architecturally bold designs that communicate the value of good design and the role architects can play in addressing some of the most pressing problems faced today - sustainable use of materials, responding to the climate crisis and creating places that successfully balance the needs of people and the planet.
Each design was required to allow everyone of all abilities to engage with their treehouse, and the nature’s architecture and biomimicry treehouse is designated to be fully accessible.
The winning designs were chosen from a shortlist of ten and respond to a specific tree and theme:
India Aspin and Amy Jenkins Smith for ‘Celebrating Play’ (Norway Maple)
Patrick Fryer with Thomas Randall-Page and Xylotek for ‘Showcasing the use of sustainable materials and innovative designs’ (Silver Lime);
Kevin Kelly Architects with Stand for ‘Highlighting nature’s architecture and biomimicry’ (Pine)
Polypore / Play that Fungi Music by India Aspin and Amy Jenkins Smith is an ‘ode to fungi’ and was selected as the winner for the ‘Celebrating Play’ tree theme. The design strives to highlight Kew’s renowned expertise in fungi research and aims to celebrate the beauty and wonder of fungi. As a play space, the treehouse aims to be accessible to all. The cascading polypore inspired steps create a tactile and accessible ground space. Those that can venture to the top of the stairs are rewarded with the fungi inspired tree top platforms, one with full height standing space and a second, kids den, with limited headroom. Surrounding the tree is a sensory play landscape with interactive play mushrooms, some for climbing and jumping and others of a more musical nature, each element inspired by a different fungi species.
Linden Thing by Patrick Fryer, Thomas Randall-Page and Xylotek is a place of assembly for refreshment, contemplation and conversation and is the winner for the ‘Showcasing the use of sustainable materials and innovative designs’ tree theme. Inspired by the Germanic Gerichtslinde, a linden tree would historically hold assemblies in order to restore justice and peace. A place where communities would gather under a lime tree to hold their meetings. It was believed that the linden tree would help unearth the truth. The Linden Thing design seeks to heighten the visitor’s appreciation of the spectacular Silver Lime; its majestic sculptural trunk, the sublime dappled light of its canopy and the heady aroma of Lime Flower Tea which will be offered inside.
An Audience with Nature by Kevin Kelly Architects with Stand is the winner for the ‘Highlighting nature’s architecture and biomimicry’ tree theme and imagined as an inhabitable amphitheatre mimicking the structural strength and shape of pinecones. Organised over two tiers, for those who want to keep their feet on the ground or the climbers amongst us. It is a space to sit down and look up, to witness the greatest designer of them all, nature. The team used digital programming as part of their design process and applied it to a centuries old construction technique and material - willow-weaving. Their woven willow is choreographed into digital patterns inspired by Kew’s research into the DNA and genome sequences of conifer trees.
The shortlist:
Silver Lime tree: Showcasing the use of sustainable materials and innovative designs
A Tower of Trees by Agenda Architecture
Bower to the People by Built Works
The Outdoor Room by NUDES
Norway Maple tree: Celebrating play
MushRoom EarthRoom by Tonkin Liu with Sam Clark, Gary Grant, Martin Bailey and Tom Baxter
Treetop Playscape by Unknown Works
Pine tree: Highlighting nature’s architecture and biomimicry
Finghi by Studio John Bridge
The Nest by Sabela Rey Vila and Ignacio Garcia Donoso