Life & Work

Luxury home that sits above the forest

watamu

Space and the natural: The interiors are designed to blend with the wooden furniture that is cut to create a natural feel.

Catering for tourists can often have a negative impact on the local environment. But one set of accommodation in Watamu has come up with an innovative way of giving guests great views and novel accommodation while preventing damage to the forest in which it is based.

Watamu Tree House is designed over three towers set high above the tree canopy, each housing a different bedroom with panoramic views of the Indian Ocean and surrounding forest.

There are no closeable windows, meaning the treehouse has a feel of really being at one with the forest. A sky bridge over the canopy links the three towers, one of which has a star bed on the roof, affording views of Whale Rock and Mida Creek.

It was a concept that took a while to be completed, with the base of the Main Tower and the Lizard Tower built between 1993 and 1996.

The top three stories of the Main Tower were added in 2001, when the Forest Tower was also built. A new entrance, yoga decks and the star bed were added two years ago.

“The design of the Treehouse is all about connecting with the natural environment,” said owner Paul Krystall.

“You can live and sleep in a house with four walls and a ceiling anywhere. In the treehouse, you are in constant relation to nature; you see it every minute; you breathe in the fresh air of the indigenous forest; and you often have ‘visitors’ from the forest.”

The motivation to leave the native forest almost untouched while building a spectacular guesthouse for visitors to Watamu came from the previous owners of the plot, who divided their land in 199, but expressed a wish that any development would not interfere with the forest.

The developers have been true to their word, with all building work taking place on already-cleared land and not a single tree cut down during the process. Some 95 per cent of the plot is original coastal forest.

The same preservation policy has now largely been followed by others in the immediate area, whereas forest clearance has been common in the rest of Watamu.

“There are very few plots remaining that have original forest, and they should be preserved,” said Krystall.

“We are reminded of how magnificent the forest is every day when we walk to the beach on the forest path. Nothing that could be planned or landscaped can reach the perfection of this forest.”

The concept for the tree house came from conservationist and artist Nani Croze, whose company Kitengela glass also provided the glasswork for the project. A 4-story wall of Dalle de Verre, glass blocks in cement that is Kitengela’s signature, protects the treehouse against monsoon winds and the ‘horizontal’ rain that comes with them.

“We take chunky blocks of glass and carve them up with a tungsten-tipped hammer according to whatever design we feel like,” said Anselm Croze of Kitengela.

“We use a steel mould to cast certain specific, difficult shapes like stars or sharply-curved sections. Then the glass pieces are cast into a cement and wrought iron matrix to create colourful panels.”

Natural wood and Kitengela glass are used throughout the interior of the treehouse, while the building work itself was completed using simple materials such as coral blocks, cement and makuti.

The furniture was made on site, with mango and coconut wood.

The house is clearly not built for those with a fear of heights or who desire air-conditioning instead of a natural breeze, but a choice of verandas and rooftop space offer expansive views of the surrounding countryside and coastline in a style that has caused minimal disruption to the ecosystem of the forest.