Apart from the beautiful woodland setting and a plastic pipe wedged in the fork of the tree to mark "where the shed was to go" there were no pre conceived plans for this building at all. Driven simply by a mans desire to fulfill his childhood dream of having a tree house of his own and the good fortune to be able to carry it through. My neighbour indroduced me to David who asked if I would consider building a tree house for him. Always up for a challenge and having never built a treehouse before I was delighted to be asked to create something new. My friend David (another David) and I set about fabricating a platform capable of taking the load of the potential shed. Local planners and tree conservationists were consulted to keep everything in order. Having built the platform there was a period of about a year whilst different ideas were put forward as to exactly how the shed should look inside and out. With a few carboard box models, visits to local existing buildings and random envelope sketches a "Green Oak Frame" was decided on. Again, new territory having never buit an oak frame before.
The rough sawn Oak was sourced from Devon and manhandled peice by peice up into the field beside the woodland. David and I set about pre fabricating and preparing the frames, lifting and assembling them all by hand like the platform. Once the frame was up it was a matter of constructing the walls and roof, all super insulated in every elevation. Fitting windows and doors. later additions consisted a cantilevered extension to take a composting toilet and "outside" warm shower. Also a kitchen area made from the timber in the woods The whole project seemed to have morphed from a shed on stilts into a very well lit, warm and cosy environment. A completely self contained hideaway It's a place to collect ones thoughts and enjoy the sounds of nature. To take whatever nature throws at you, howling wind and pouring rain or the quietness of falling snow whilst enjoying the warmth of the woodburner. You can bask in the sunlight , up in the canopy with all the birds. Having got settled in it's very difficult to leave.
Time seems to stop still.