After childhood, treehouses are usually stowed away in tandem with the fantasy and adventures associated with youthful imagination. As it turns out though, there can be a wildly elaborate, adult counterpart to this early life staple. The Skysphere, a project designed by Jono Williams, is the ultimate 21st century DIY treehouse project. Actually a small pod-like inhabitable platform attached to a steel column, it is more like the homegrown equivalent of Toronto’s CN Tower, Tokyo’s Skytree, or the unrealized Phoenix Observation Tower by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).
Originally started as a true "house in a tree" project, Williams sought a more permanent solution, one not as susceptible to wind or environmental changes. The inhabitable platform, accessed via a ladder in the steel column, is circular, with a 14 meter circumference and two-meter high windows facing 360 degrees. To fill out the space, Williams designed custom furniture that includes a curve-hugging queen-sized bed and sectional couch.
Equipped with all the novel breakthroughs of smart home technologies, the space is accessed via a fingerprint controlled portal, has adjustable LED moodlights, a Miracast projector, high-speed internet, and a refrigerated, in-couch beer dispenser. The whole project is powered by solar panels on the roof deck, a space that doubles as a star observatory on clear evenings.
Without connections to hard-wired infrastructure, the Skysphere could be moved or reproduced just about anywhere, “amongst trees, on a hilltop, or even in the ocean,” says Williams.
For more about this project and others by Williams, visit his blog here.
