‘Mirror Cube’ Tree Hotel Hangs in the Sky
Stunning, simple, ingenious, semi-invisible and yes, bird-safe despite its dangerous mirror-camouflaged exterior (thanks to a thin infrared film on the outer walls visible only to birds). When you last read about it here, it was just a design in the making. Now it is a real-life, three-story micro-hotel just north of nowhere, Sweden.
Nestled near the Arctic Circle, the Mirrorcube Treehotel is one of a series of boutique stand-alone structures in a unique system of nature-oriented hotels. Inside, amazingly enough, one finds a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room space split between two interior stories (with a rooftop deck above).
Also on the construction agenda: a so-called UFO, a hanging Bird’s Nest and a more-contemporary suspended Cabin as well as a 12-person Tree Sauna and other community and support structures, variously hung from above or lofted from below.
The Mirrorcube has, of course, had to compromise certain details to be built. The seamless glass box that looked like a glossy container of perfection in plans and drawings might be a bit more difficult to keep clean in reality (and comes with attached cables that detract from its pure form).
Plywood on the inside, and mirrored aluminum on the outside, the unit provides 360-degree views (albeit through smallish windows) from a few stories up in the air – not a bad way to spend the weekend watching wildlife. The original ladder leading up, though, was discarded in the final design in favor of a ramp, which detracts somewhat from the standalone shape of the cube.
“The Mirrorcube is a truly different tree room, a cube measuring 4x4x4 meters. The room is surrounded by mirror walls which both reflect and blend in with the surroundings. A tree trunk grows through the room and is enclosed by an aluminum frame, which forms the base of the room. All walls are covered in mirror glass.”
