pastel blue jet house by hello wood turns children's fantasies into reality

Jet House is a childhood fantasy come true

When 12-year-old Lujzi asked for a playhouse where she could perch and sleep in or spend time with her friends, architecture studio Hello Wood decided to make her dream come true. Her fondness for traveling especially flying on aircraft was the key point that led the architects to an airplane-themed cabin. From the very first meetings, the dauntless girl participated with elaborate ideas and plans on paper. Supported by her father, she followed the design process through to completion, representing an excitingly different perspective from typical property developers.

Expanding on the young client’s initial idea of a secluded space for play that could later be converted into a retreat, the design team sought to form a full-fledged functional small cabin, that resembles more an intimate toy than a building.

Tucked away among woodlands in the hills of Zala County, this airplane-shaped tiny house dubbed ‘Jet House’ reveals a child’s kingdom: welcoming arcs and curves, round windows, pastel blue wooden coating, and a staircase that mimics the airplane stairway. While it may look like a giant plaything that ‘flew out of a cartoon and landed on the meadow’, Lujzi’s jet can double as a fully functional lodge.

all images by Zsuzsa Darab

combining function with fantasy

This ambitious young girl was Hello Wood’s youngest client ever, which turned into an enjoyable challenge for the team to think out of the box and bring out their inner child. Merging practicality with fiction, the resulting design reinterprets airplane characteristics as architectural elements. The entire structure is elevated on a series of metal supports, detaching it from the ground and giving the sensation of floating. To enter the house, a short flight of airplane stairs leads to the main door. Moreover, its wings introduce a spacious terrace, and a circular window acts as the plane’s nose.

‘We were happy to accept the unusual assignment. As an architect, it is an inspiring task to design a structure that has to be cute. It was also a challenge to incorporate traditional architectural elements into the sculptural shape, such as waterproofing, vapor barrier, and thermal insulation,’ says Tamás Fülöp, the Jet House’s project architect.

Inside, the jet is furnished with two actual airplane seats and other aviation relics collected by Lujzi and her father, while its rounded shapes and inviting wood elements embrace a retro airplane mood. In its total, the house is assembled from more than a thousand different structural pieces. In order to keep a clear silhouette, without junctions or sewers, a waterproof ‘protective coating’ was used, securing the durability of the tiny house.

jet house ‘lands’ in the middle of a forestland in Zala County

the wings of the jet double as terraces

the staircase that mimics an airplane stairway guides visitors to the shielded main door

the blue pastel body is elevated on a series of metal supports

round openings and inviting wood elements welcome a retro airplane mood

the cabin is furnished with two actual airplane seats and other aviation relics collected by Lujzi and her father

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project info:

name: Jet House

design & build architecture studio: Hello Wood | @hellowood

creative concept: Pados Lujzi, Tamás Fülöp
design board: András Huszár, Dávid Ráday, Krisztián Tóth
lead designers: András Huszár, Péter Pozsár
project architect: Tamás Fülöp
photography: Zsuzsa Darab | @Zsuzsa Darab
videography: Építechture | @epitechture