Nature features

The new, eco-friendly buildings incorporate two classrooms built high into the trees,  joined by a rope bridge, with an office and toilet facilities at ground level.

The New Forest Tree House Study Centre will replace the existing dilapidated buildings currently used by the Countryside Education Trust . 

The classroom on the trees

For the last 30 years, the trust has run courses and activities to encourage learning and understanding of the rural environment and the New Forest.  In particular it aims to give schoolchildren from towns and cities a greater understanding, and in some cases, a first taste, of life in the countryside.

Work started on the building just before Christmas last year and the official opening is being performed by Alan Titchmarsh later today.

The trust's director David Bridges explained: "When we decided to replace our aging study centre we wanted something inspirational and sustainable.  The world the children say when they see it is 'wow'!"

Building work on the treehouses

The complex is built to the highest eco-friendly standards - it is made out of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) wood, the central heating is fired by wooden pellets from scrap wood, rainwater gathered from the roof is used to flush the toilets, the office is powered by solar panels and and natural insulation and ash from the boilers is composted to natural fertiliser.

The design of the complex was the result of a competition won by 22 year-old Samantha Sherwood, a third year architecture student from Oxford Brookes University, whose successful plans beat entrants from five other Schools of Architecture in the South east.

The buildings are environmentally friend

The project has been a partnership between the Beaulieu Estate, the National Park Authority, SEEDA, The Royal Institute of British Architects and the Solent Centre for Architecture and Design (SCA+D).

The public can see the treehouses this weekend at a special open day on Saturday which will feature guided tours as well as Robin Hood themed trail and other fun activities for children, self-guided woodland trails and living history demonstrations.