Mexico-based architects Co-Lab Design Office are known for creating meaningful structures that speak to their surroundings. Their Tulum Treehouse project goes one step further, blending into its lush habitat with melodious ease. The private hotel, which accommodates up to 10 guests, is rendered primarily in polished white cement, emerging from a dense mangrove jungle like a tranquil mirage. But it’s the use of locally sourced Tzalam wood throughout the structure that achieves the property’s harmonious relationship with its environment.

DESIGN CO-LAB Design Office & Annabell Kutucu | PHOTOGRAPHY Brechenmacher & Baumann Photography

Adjacent to a national park, the luxury retreat includes several large common areas for indoor/outdoor entertaining as well as large wrap-around balconies, allowing guests to soak in the surrounding abundant greenery. Co-Lab have spared no opportunity to encourage the outside to be drawn in, with light and air flowing through every room. The property’s use of pure and unaffected materials is both sensitive and primitive, with each structural corner purposefully softened to achieve a gentle contrast to the wild location.

Berlin-based interior designer Annabell Kutucu is responsible for curating the retreat’s reductive approach to decoration. A neutral palette is punctuated by textiles and ceramics that add character and charm. By commissioning local artisans to produce bespoke furnishings, the treehouse is rich with distinctive pieces that pay homage to a community of craftsmen. Woven baskets crafted from Bejuco – a fibre that requires mature vines to be harvested by hand at the full moon –  serve as interior highlights. Fallen trees from the often flood-ravaged region of Veracruz have been repurposed into refined furniture by local carpenters Jorge and Rita, highlighting again the seamless way the property absorbs and reflects its surrounds.

Tulum Treehouse is conscious of its surrounds whilst providing a serene and luxurious escape from the outside world. Proof that design, when thoughtful, can be ethical without compromising elegance.

This feature was originally published in Issue 26 of Est Magazine. Read the full magazine here.

Tulum Treehouse is a private retreat on the cusp of the Mexican jungle blending raw materials with elegant minimalism.