Almost Invisible Mirrored Tree House Built In Sweden

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

Invisible TreeHouse? Really?
They said it couldn't be done. When we first wrote about the almost invisible treehouse to be built in Sweden by Tham & Videgard, 899 commenters thought it was AutoCad eye candy, impossible to build and death for birds. But they built it, one of six units in a "Treehotel" opening this weekend 40 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.

The four meter glass cube looks as spectacular in reality as it did in the rendering. Kent Lindvall, co-owner of the TreeHotel, says:

Everything will reflect in this - the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be invisible nearly in the forest.'

And what about the birds? According to Designboom, Lindvall says that a special film that is visible to birds will be applied to the glass.

The units are constructed from sustainably harvested wood and have electric radiant floor heating and "a state-of-the-art eco-friendly incineration toilet"

(I have owned an incinerating toilet and they are anything but eco-friendly, using a huge amount of electricity, creating noise and a pall of burned poop smell when the wind isn't blowing. Perhaps they have improved)

But other than that minor quibble, it appears to be a truly eco resort. The owners say in Designboom:

This is untouched forest and we want to maintain it the same way. we decided for example to not offer snowmobile safari which is very common up here,' says Selberg. Instead, wilderness walks will be offered.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/07/almost-invisible-mirrored-treehouse-built-in-sweden.php