This Insane Swedish Treehouse Is Made of 350 Bird Houses—And It’s a New Hotel

Ever the environmentalists, Jonsson and Jonsson-Lindvall opted for the faraway small village of Harads rather than Sweden’s bigger, more populated cities because it is essentially one giant, rugged forest home to quite a few bird communities. Plus, Harads enjoys four distinct seasons that massively inform the look of the village that still feels quite undeveloped in the best way, even with the presence of Treehotel. After all, Treehotel isn’t a typical resort with hundreds of rooms housed within a massive, imposing building—it’s a collection of eight guest rooms hoisted several meters above the ground. The Tham & Videgård–designed Mirrorcube, for instance, is a plywood box, accessible by a 72-foot-long bridge, wholly camouflaged by the exterior reflective glass.

Some rooms, including the InredningsGruppen-designed UFO cabin, are more modern and easier to spot amongst the trees than others, but all eight guest rooms are highly sustainable and designed to celebrate the forest. João Albuquerque, architect and partner at BIG, says that the ensuing ecological response from Biosphere was the driving force behind the architecture firm’s creative expression, and it’s easy to understand why: The new suite is just as much a temporary home for guests as it is a permanent one for birds. It’s a place for both parties—winged and not—to feel protected and at ease.

And to top it all off, Ingels designed the room with an accessible roof, where guests can take in the entirety of the forest at once. There’s hardly a better way to disconnect from the world and celebrate nature’s splendor, which is just one of Treehotel’s goals for those paying the sanctuary-like spot a visit.