IBLA were shortlisted out of 120 entries in this RIBA competition to rethink retirement living for a new generation.
"When Thoreau took to the woods, rather than the wilderness, his retreat was conveniently located on the edge of the town of Concord, close to his friend Emerson, and only two miles from his family home. And so, we propose two dwelling types, ‘tree houses’ and ‘courtyard houses’, that combine a private (external) space in the woods with a convivial, across-the-fence relationship to neighbours, convenient parking, and a variety of social spaces: a thoroughly ‘civilised’ retreat.
As well as ground level communal facilities,we have, strung across the stacks of treehouses, a ‘high line’ of connected roof gardens providing facilities for a variety of gentle outdoor pursuits such as barbeque pits, boules courts, outdoor chess tables, greenhouses, bee hives and a bird hide, all set against a treetop view encompassing the nearby Bishop’s Waltham Palace ruins."
