Off-shore plans for quirky Kiwi Yellow Treehouse

Off-shore plans for quirky Kiwi Yellow Treehouse
Replicas of New Zealand’s quirky Yellow Treehouse may soon be seen all over the world.
Kiwi architects and Yellow Treehouse designers - Pacific Environments have been approached by several international organisations to help build the treehouse in other countries.

The architectural firm owns the copyright to the treehouse, which was conceived as a marketing stunt for New Zealand Yellow Pages.

The Yellow Treehouse was a temporary restaurant built 10m up a giant redwood tree in a forest near Matakana, just north of Auckland.

The restaurant was only open for business to the public for a limited period (December 2008 to February 2009) but enjoyed enormous success. It was booked out the entire time it was open.

Overseas replicas
Peter Eising of Pacific Environments said the Yellow Treehouse had generated plenty of overseas interest, including a request from a Chinese shopping mall owner who wanted a replica built in a Beijing mall, a film crew from South Korea and an American treehouse enthusiast.

Eising and colleague Lucy Gauntlett, who came up with the treehouse concept, said it had fulfilled all their childhood fantasies.

"We were inspired by the hanging ‘organic’ form of the butterfly’s chrysalis," Eising said.

"This worked well in creating a memorable image during the day, as well as a ‘lantern’ effect at night where the skin becomes transparent and the interior glows. It attaches itself to the tree and becomes part of the tree."

2010 Webby Awards
The Yellow Treehouse scooped Australasia’s only win at the 2010 Webby Awards - in the ‘telecommunications’ category.

The prestigious Webby Awards - the internet’s most-respected awards - are judged by 650 members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Members include lifestyle guru Martha Stewart and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening.

Fans from around the world can also vote for their favourite websites - nearly one million votes were cast in 2010.

Adam Good, chief executive of AIM Proximity in Auckland, the firm who helped dream up the Yellow Treehouse campaign said the award was the ‘cherry on top’ of the cake for the company.

"Yellow Treehouse is a game-changing piece of communication that is admired both locally and on a global scale. To win a Webby award that honours global excellence on the internet is brilliant," Good said.

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