The Eye

Would Going to Work Be More Bearable If Your Cubicle Looked Like a Treehouse?

Treehouse-inspired co-working pods from Singapore-based architect and designer Dymitr Malcew.

Courtesy of Dymitr Malcew

Perhaps because more children dream of treehouses than actually possess them, the world is full of treehouse-inspired structures for grown-ups—like a pop-up co-working treehouse in a London park, the world’s coolest treehouse hotel in Sweden, and a host of luxurious treehouse home offices around the world.

Treehouse 2 is designed for modern-day co-working among paperless office workers, but it could easily work as a reading or study nook in a loft.

Courtesy of Dymitr Malcew

Singapore-based architect and designer Dymitr Malcew has created a series of treehouse-inspired modular office pods that provide the same benefits as the other semiprivate work pods, offering respite from distracting views, noise, and abundant light of the modern open-plan office or co-working space. The design has a work-as-play vibe that’s in keeping with the 21st-century office aesthetic—and would also make a splendid reading nook or Web-surfing oasis in a giant loft space for those with too much real estate on their hands.

The modular pods have thick padding for sound insulation and can be wheeled into flexible configurations depending on how much company or solitude a user wants.

Courtesy of Dymitr Malcew

Treehouse 2 is an update of an earlier design called Break-Out Furniture from Malcew that had two open sides instead of just one.

Courtesy of Dymitr Malcew

Courtesy of Dymitr Malcew

The new design is an update of Malcew’s previous treehouse-inspired office pod, titled Break-Out Furniture.

Courtesy of Dymitr Malcew

Treehouse 2 pods have thick padding for sound insulation, little windows, and sloping roofs that form a gabled structure when pushed together, though it looks both a bit claustrophobic as well as a smidge too intimate for your average meeting among co-workers.

As open-plan loft-like living and office space design continues to become the norm and our home and work lives continue to blur, maybe what every modern loft-dwelling office worker needs is a treehouse pod of one’s own.