Tree Snake Houses Stand on Stilts at Portugal's Pedras Salgadas Eco Resort

The Pedras Salgadas Eco Resort in Portugal just celebrated the completion of two new accommodations - the Tree Snake Houses. Stilted high into the trees and accessed via a long ramp, the single room cabins are a charming addition to the lodgings at the spa and nature park. Luís Rebelo de Andrade and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade designed the two treehouses, which were prefabricated by Modular System and assembled on site to help reduce the project's impact.

Pedras Salgadas Eco Resort is a quiet retreat in the Parque de Pedras Salgadas, a pristine national park in northern Portugal. The popular spa & nature park started with seven little cabins perched on short stilts amidst the trees. Now they have added two more exclusive cabins lofted higher in the trees and accessed via a long ramp. The Tree Snake Houses are long and slender and more charming than dangerous.

The treehouses were designed by Luís Rebelo de Andrade and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade, who also helped design the original cabins and the overall plan for the resort. To minimize impact, the modular treehouses were prefabricated and then assembled on site. In accordance with the overall sustainability plan, the accommodations have minimal impact on the surrounding eco system. Natural materials and lots of daylight further the experience and help immerse the guests in the forest. Each treehouse has a bedroom with a writing desk, a bathroom, and a kitchenette.

Erlebnest is a Breezy Open-Air Treehouse Retreat in Germany.

Treehouses come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from a simple platform suspended in a tree to a home with full plumbing and electrical services. On the broad spectrum of treehouse design, the Erlebnest by German company Cambium GmBH falls somewhere in the middle. Spotted by our friends over at Treehugger, the minimalist structure consists of a large, round, open-air covered platform for dining and lounging and a smaller tube-shaped sleeping area that floats next to the main platform. Together, they combine to form one of the most inviting treehouse retreats we've seen.

Cambium is a company based in German’s Allgäu region that specializes in treehouse construction, suspended rope and bridge courses, and forest climbing equipment. The Erlebnest is made of a steel frame with strips of larch wood forming the structure, and it blends into its wooded surroundings. The lounge area is big enough for a party of four, and the “cocoon” sleeping area features a king-size bed. If the weather turns while you’re in there, a large rain flap can be pulled down to protect you from the elements.
Because it has no walls, the 9-square-meter Erlebnest platform affords spectacular views of the surrounding forest. The first Erlebnest has been installed in Bingen am Rhein, and Cambium plans to build six more of them next year in Lake Constance. And if you’d like to build one of these unique treehouses on your own property, the company also offers kits for sale and provides help setting them up.

CLOUD Treehouse in Japan is a Relaxing Space Perched High in the Treetops!

 Hidden amidst the branches of a lush tree in Kanagawa, Japan is CLOUD, a unique tree house structure by SABAOARCH. Designed to be a room that floats like a cloud, the rounded structure gives the client a serene moment of seclusion, high above the world. Accessible by a silver ladder, CLOUD has three adjoining “rooms” for relaxation among the tree tops.

 

Each of the oval “rooms” in the treehouse are connected, but designed for separate activities – one for standing, one for sitting down, and one for sleeping al fresco. Each area is intersected by a tree trunk from the Japanese oak host  that coils around the platform, or jut through the floor, harmonizing each room within the tree.
The rooms are outlined with steel guardrails to protect visitors from stumbling off. A curved white couch, platform bed, and leaning support furnish each of the rooms. The floors are also slatted so that they naturally drain rain and spilled liquids, as well as filter light to the base of the tree. When the wind shakes the tree, the structure slowly rocks with it.
The surrounding branches and leaves act as a natural sun filter, shading the interior for relaxation, filtering rain, as well as giving bursts of oxygen with natural ventilation. The CLOUD structure is an idyllic place of contemplation and serenity high up in the trees.

Via Arch Daily

Colombia’s Hotel Gaia has an 8-Story Vertical Garden with 25,000 Plants!

Paisajismo Urbano is literally turning Bogotá green with their amazing vertical ecosystems. One of the world’s most sophisticated team of vertical gardeners, the group behind Hotel Gaia’s eight-story living wall have spent 18 years learning how to bring the jungle into cities. And what a job they’ve done! This particular vertical ecosystem boasts more than 25,000 plants, of which 40 percent are indigenous to Colombia.

A total of 55 species were planted on the facade of B3′s Gaia hotel in Bogotá. A self-polinating hydroponic vertical ecosystem, this insect-repellent living wall requires very little maintenance and the payoff is huge. Not only does it completely transform the face of a glum building, but it also insulates it, reducing its electricity load, and scrubs the polluted air clean. If you like this, then you’ll love Spain’s largest indoor vertical garden as well. Holy caramba!

Sweden’s Treehotel Now Selling Stunning Mirrorcube Treehouses!

We're huge fans of Sweden's stunning Treehotel, so we were excited to hear that now you no longer need to travel to the Arctic Circle to experience it - you can mail-order the Swedish hotel's most stunning room -- the Mirrorcube -- and have it built on your own piece of land! The sparkling cubic treehouse designed by Bolle Tham and Martin Videgård will reflect all its surroundings - where you set it high up in a tree or in a corner of your backyard.

The Mirrorcube can be delivered as a kit to just about any location in the world in about four months. If you’re lacking in DIY carpentry skills then you’re in luck – the Treehotel offers options for construction and installment.
An original idea for an enchanting treehouse, the Treehotel‘s Mirrorcube is a magical retreat set high up in nature. Made mostly of wood and recyclable aluminum, it comes with under-floor electric heating, lights, furniture and a water-efficient toilet space. And don’t worry about distracted birds flying into your mirror-walled-space – each unit is wrapped in an infrared film that is invisible to humans