Treehouses at Kew competition winners revealed

Judges selecting practices to design three new structures for the Royal Botanical Gardens’ Treehouses at Kew project have picked small UK firms after an international competition that garnered more than 200 entries.

Freelance architect India Aspin and freelance designer Amy Jenkins Smith beat rival shortlisted teams including one featuring Tonkin Liu with their “Polypore/Play that Fungi Music” entry in the competition category dedicated to celebrating play. (See full shortlist below)

Aspin和Jenkins Smith将树屋描述为“对真菌的颂歌”，旨在认可英国皇家植物园在真菌研究方面的专业知识，突出真菌的美丽，并提供可访问的游戏空间。

Former Adam Khan Architects staffer Patrick Fryer, with Thomas Randal-Page and timber-structures specialist Xylotec won the competition’s sustainable-materials-and-innovative-design category with their “Linden Thing” entry. It is Inspired by the historic Germanic tradition of holding meetings – including judicial courts – under a linden tree.

Kevin Kelly Architects with Stand’s “Audience with Nature” entry was picked by judges in the competition category dedicated to highlighting nature’s architecture and biomimicry. The treehouse vision is for an inhabitable amphitheatre that mimics the structural strength and shape of pinecones.

Kelly is aformer BDP associatewho set up his eponymous practice in 2020.

The three treehouses selected through the competition will be joined by four more structures for the Treehouses at Kew exhibition, which will run from April next year.

另外三个树屋将由邱园“指定的国际科学优先”国家的建筑师直接委托建造。第七个树屋将与年轻人合作设计。

RIBA president Simon Allford, who was a member of the judging panel for the competition – run in conjunction with charity the Museum of Architecture, said he was looking forward to “walking, sitting, climbing and relaxing in the treehouses” very much.

他说:“印度·阿斯平和艾米·詹金斯·史密斯的作品是一个令人愉快的命题，他们以一种愉快和有趣的方式在建筑、物体和形式的规模上探索真菌。”

“Patrick Fryer, Thomas Randall-Page and Xylotek’s treehouse will be a striking pavilion that moves from the architectonic to the primitive in a sophisticated and engaging dialogue with the linden tree all enjoyed whilst sipping linden tea.

“Kevin Kelly Architects with Stand’s amphitheatre like, architecturally scaled, furniture will offer a place to relax and reflect under the canopy of their tree.”

Paul Denton, head of visitor programmes and exhibitions at Kew said all 10 shortlisted entries had been of extraordinarily high quality.

“We at Kew are passionate about the role art and architecture can play in communicating complex stories around the important role plants and fungi play in supporting all life on earth,” he said.

“The winning designs demonstrate a unique approach, using sustainable materials, to offer personal connections and experiences with the trees they surround and inhabit.”

建筑博物馆的创始人兼总监梅丽莎·伍尔福德说，所有入围的实践都在项目的第二阶段投入了“难以置信”的大量努力。

“The attention to the narrative, the science links and the design was impressive,” she said. “I can not wait to see the three that have been chosen as they all have a strong link to the brief and are very different in approach and technique.”