building with nature: the primitive hut

spruce is the most common tree in sweden

sweden based studio UMA experimented with materials found in nature to create ‘the spruce hut’ in the heart of a swedish forest. spruce is the most common tree in sweden, and makes up for more than 40 % of the whole tree population. the tree has adapted to the climate in the northern hemisphere and has a lot of clever winter adaptations.

for example, its conical form and downward-drooping limbs help the trees to shed snow better. they also have a waxy coating around the needles to conserve water during the sometimes cold winters where they live, when soil water is frozen and not available for the tree to use. these sloping evergreen branches often touch the ground and make the spruce almost into a solid entity.

the spruce hut blending in the swedish forest

all images courtesy of UMA

the spruce hut fuses with the lush green surroundings

the spruce hut is the latest addition to the primitive hut series that UMA has developed. the main idea behind this series is to explore and create shelters from basic materials often found in nature around them.
this primitive hut is comprised out of three spruce trees where a room was cut out in the intersection of the trees. this process makes the interior much more spacious than if the designers would have only used one tree since the stem would have been in the way. this hut sits in the middle of a swedish forest, completely blend in with its lush green surrounding.

diagram of how the spruce hut was made

the entrance in hidden among the trees

view from inside the spruce hut

project info:

name: spruce hut
designer: ulf mejergren architects (UMA)

location: sweden

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: yasmina karam | designboom