Treetop House sits on the boundary of the Torquay national park, pressed close by eucalypt on all sides. The project began with a particular understanding of place. Not the town in summer, crowded and bright, but the coast in its quieter months: heavy skies, damp tracks through the scrub, the subdued palette of the park once the season has passed.

The house responds by inverting the conventional plan. Living spaces are lifted to the upper level, where full-height glazing retracts entirely and the canopy becomes the room. The breeze moves through. Branches and birds are constant company. In winter, the same space closes around a fire, the park held beyond the glass.

Materials were selected to enhance their connection to the landscape beyond. Board-formed concrete carries the grain of its timber formwork. Japanese plaster walls curve through the plan, softening a heavy build. The interior palette was drawn directly from eucalypt bark and forest floor. The architecture holds two seasons of Torquay at once. It was designed for both.

Treetop — Torquay, Australia — 2025

A robust house that knows when to open and when to hold you in.

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