Studio MEMM in Brazil has created a pair of elevated, wood-clad structures designed to provide a 'floating, mystical environment in the woods' for both children and adults. The outcome will take you to those inner child days when having fun was all that mattered.
Wooden Tree House by Studio MEMM Is to Bring Back Childhood Memories
The 'Tree House' project is based in Monte Verde, a town in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. The cozy wooden house has a main house, a pool, a sauna, and other amenities. Originally intended as a play area for children, the client opted to make the treehouse acceptable for adults in order to improve their visits to the site.
When the conceptual design was first given, the client realized that the treehouse, which was originally meant to collect the children, should also be geared to the family's adults, shared Studio MEMM, a Sao Paulo-based studio.
A Project Aimed to Bring Out the Playful Inner Self
Regardless of age, the architects intended to make a treehouse that could unleash the 'playful inner self' in every person. According to the studio, the building had to transform into a mystical, floating area in the woods where family members of all generations might gather.
The location of the treehouse was chosen with great consideration and care. The team and client ultimately chose a wooded, sloping site with a variety of tree types next to an existing pond. The studio then created two volumes that are enclosed by Pinheiro-bravo trees, an endangered endemic species in Brazil as a result of forest destruction.
What Are the Structures Composed Of?
The roofs of the two buildings have a gentle slope and are rectangular in shape. The wood-finished, concrete-framed structures are 1.7 to 2.5 meters above the ground. These options were chosen, according to the team, to better address the volumetric and visual aims as well as the prolonged rainy seasons.
The first volume is four by 1.5 meters and acts as a reception and support space. The second, which is four by three meters larger, contains a living room. There is a bridge that connects the two structures. The main promenade of the property is connected to the treehouse by a long, elevated walkway.
Glazed walls have thin, grey aluminum frames that are intended to blur the line between inside and outside. According to MEMM studio, their dark graphite finish makes them stick out from the wood and emphasizes the boundary between the built and the emptiness.
Inside Facade of the Tree House Designed by Studio MEMM
A substantial glue-laminated wood brise-soleil that was created using a CNC technique was added by the architects inside. The neighboring sycamore trees' leaf structure served as an inspiration for the patterns.
The screen is designed to encourage 'immersion and dissociation from the exterior world, sending the user to a refuge that allows them to experience a feeling of unrecognizable enchantment', the MEMM team claimed.
To prevent shadows in the lowest part of the brise-soleil, interior light fixtures were put in the flooring to illuminate it from bottom to top. Lights buried in the ground shine on the outside of the treehouse at night. The illumination not only shows the architectural grandeur without detracting from the natural darkness but also strives to examine the trees that surround the property.
One of the most beautiful parts of this project is the view at night when the exterior of the treehouse is illuminated by lights embedded in the ground. Go back to your childhood memories by checking out the tree house by MEMM studio!
Photos by MEMM Studio.
