Back in October 2013, Blue Forest, a UK-based tree house design and construction company, was approached by Quiet Mark to design and build an ambitious and extraordinary next-generation tree house as the central feature for London’s Ideal Home Show 2014. After a few months of design and planning, The Quiet Tree House by Quiet Mark and John Lewis designed by Blue Forest was unveiled at The Ideal Home Show, which is currently being held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London, UK through Sunday, March 30, 2014.
Blue Forest designed a free-standing tree house structure that could be dismantled and re-built on site for permanent outdoor use. The Quiet Treehouse was pre-fabricated in modules off-site, assembled and installed at Earls Court in seven days, and can be dismantled in two days. Its design is reminiscent of a cluster of trees with round crowns and built out of curvaceous wood members with a touch of laciness suggestive of a tree canopy’s foliage.
The Quiet Treehouse showcases how high quality acoustics can be achieved with construction techniques and next generation sound engineering. On display inside the tree house are the latest quiet gadgets from brands such as Dyson, Bose, Philips, and many more. But equally important, the Quiet Treehouse illustrates how tree houses, like any other buildings, can be thoughtfully built with environmentally friendly materials.
The Quiet Treehouse was built from sustainably sourced wood materials such as Medite Tricoya’s FSC certified MDF without added formaldehyde, and Kebony wood cladding that has been certified by either FSC or PEFC. The green building envelope consists of Rockwool, a stone wool insulation, and Acoustiblok made from a proprietary viscoelastic polymer material without lead. The sponsors listed below donated the majority of the building materials to the construction of the Quiet Treehouse:
- Acoustiblok: Made from more than 80% organic and recyclable materials, Acoustiblok is the ultimate sound insulation solution for sustainable building – deadening impact and airborne sound more effectively than lead.
- Cantifix: Cantifix is an architectural glazing company.
- Ion Architectural & Decorative Glass: Ion Glass provides structural and decorative glass solutions for a wide range of new build, refurbishment, renovation, and one-off glass projects across the UK.
- Jewson: With over 600 branches across the country, Jewson is the UK’s leading supplier of sustainable timber and building materials.
- John Cullen Lighting: With over 30 years of experience in lighting and product design, John Cullen is widely recognized as being at the forefront of lighting design and development in the United Kingdom.
- Kebony: Kebony is based on a process where sustainable wood is made more durable, harder and more stable using liquids from biowaste material. Kebony is a sustainable alternative to hardwoods from tropical regions. The products resemble teak and other tropical varieties of wood.
- Kvadrat Soft Cells: Kvadrat Soft Cells are patented panels that control sound absorption. Over half of the aluminum in the frames comes from recycled materials and the modular design of the panels makes it easy to recycle the different components.
- Medite Tricoya: Medite Tricoya Extreme Durable MDF provides outstanding dimensional stability and durability using a non-toxic, environmentally compatible manufacturing process. It is also CARB 2 compliant (California Air Resource Board).
- Pilkington: The NSG Group manufactures and sells glass in the UK and Ireland under the Pilkington brand name.
- Rockwool: Rockwool makes and supplies a full range of smart and sustainable insulation products for the construction industry based on an innovative stone wool technology.
Blue Forest was established in 2003 by Andy Payne. Today, the company is run by Andy and his brother Simon, both who were born in Kenya where they were fortunate enough to have spent their childhood surrounded by the beauty and adventure of the great outdoors. Blue Forest was born of those experiences and from a desire to bring people closer to the natural world. It is an award winning company that specializes in the design and construction of luxurious tree houses, eco-classrooms, and unique sustainable buildings for private residences, hotels, and schools. Blue Forest’s projects come in a variety of types and sizes and have been built around the world, ranging from luxury eco-lodge tree houses in Malawi , to an eco-school in Surrey, UK, and an aerial walkway at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK.
Having worked on a number of trade shows in the past, Blue Forest was keen on finding a way to create lasting and sustainable value from the Quiet Treehouse project. It proposed to Quiet Mark to donate the tree house rather than let it go to waste at the end of the show. As a result, once the structure is dismantled, it will be delivered and donated to The Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice Care located in West Sussex, UK.
Interesting!