Akin Studio has created a small self-build house in Herefordshire that reinterprets a treehouse structure as an elevated experience.

The project is located by a drovers' track, used for droving livestock, and was initially commissioned as a low-impact treehouse, but after surveying the site it was deemed inappropriate to support a structure from any trees.

The structure reinterprets the experience of living within the tree canopies by building as physically close to the trees as possible, without damaging their roots. This ambition combined with the functional aspect of the drovers' track led to the house being lifted up on legs, allowing sheep to be herded underneath and nature to thrive and grow around the structure.

This project has been longlisted in the small building category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Architect: Akin Studio

Project: Drovers' Bough