High above the forest floor: Lesom by Sozonych

Once upon a time, four up-and-coming architects from St. Petersburg travelled to the 'Drevoljucija' Architecture Festival in Kostroma Oblast, northwest Russia, in the summer of 2018. The forested part of the festival grounds reminded the architects of their childhood, and how they had wished to build a tree house one day. Yet how to reconcile these romantic imaginings with the hostility of thorn-covered bushes, muddy patches and swarms of insects?

It was this train of thought that led to 'Lesom', a project comprising a 36-metre-long ramp, raised above the forest floor and leading up in an angular alignment to a small cabin complete with terrace and fire pit. At the same time 'Lesom' involves a mounting technique that particularly minimises the load placed on the tree.

The basic structural elements of the cabin consist of individual timber beams assembled in three steps. First the architects set the wooden elements cross-wise around the tree trunk, joining them in a hairpin-like arrangement. Then they repeated the same steps in a vertical direction, and in the third step faced and filled in the structure with further wooden elements.