New Milton: Chewton Glen to build 'treehouse' suites

Award-winning planning consultancy Terence O’Rourke is helping one of the world's top hotels add unique and luxurious “treehouse suites” to its accommodation offering, the likes of which has never been seen before in the UK.

Bournemouth-based Terence O’Rourke has already successfully completed the complex task of gaining planning permission for the project at Chewton Glen in Hampshire, voted one of the Top Hotels in the World and Best Hotel in the British Isles - at the 2010 Condé Nast Traveller annual readers awards.

The national consultancy was brought in to oversee the project due to the difficult nature of the planning.

The treehouse suites will be secluded lodges set in the woodland area of Chewton Glen’s 130-acre grounds. Supported on stilts and their balconies level with the trees, they will appear to float across the wooded valley. The individual suites will provide private accommodation for guests who wish to enjoy the facilities and luxury of the five-star hotel while staying a little further away from the main building.

Bridget Pearce, technical director at Terence O’Rourke, said: “This is a unique project because normally you would expect to see development associated with the hotel sitting close to the main building whereas this is pushing into an environment that is untouched: it is within the green belt, on the edge of the New Forest National Park and is an area of high ecological value containing belts of important trees.”

Terence O’Rourke worked closely with the hotel and designers of the tree house suites, Blue Forest, to identify the key problems associated with the project and deliver a solution that would ensure the plans would be approved without having to go through a costly inquiry process.

The company’s planning, architectural and environmental teams took an integrated approach, tailoring the plans and original designs to create something that would have low impact visually in the environment while creating a very unique experience for guests staying in the suites.

Pearce added: “We’ve used our environmental team extensively to assess the ecological value of the site and to make sure that any clearance work and any pruning work to the trees is done sensitively and is the minimum required to make this development happen; there will really be a very low level of intrusion into the natural environment.

“Everything is being done to limit the impact on the environment not just in physical terms, but also in terms of sustainability. Obviously we’re looking at sustainable materials for construction and we’re doing as much as we can in terms of the fit-out to make sure they are as sustainable as they can be without compromising on quality; the addition of log-burning stoves will make the lodges really cosy in winter.”

As a result of the extensive work, plans for the treetop suites were approved by New Forest District Council, despite the fact the project involved felling of trees and construction within the green belt on the edge of the New Forest National Park.

Bridget says: “It was probably more boundary pushing than most projects because it required both planners and elected members to take a step beyond their normal comfort zone. We are all very pleased that they did! This reputation of relationship-building really does come through in many of the projects we work on because we not only try to meet our clients’ expectations, but deliver something even more special.

“We’re good at finding the route through difficult problems and this project has been an excellent demonstration of how that ethos works.”

The Chewton Glen’s Managing Director, Andrew Stembridge, said: “We had a vision of providing luxurious accommodation that would allow our guests with families to enjoy the experience of Chewton Glen while benefitting from the seclusion of being in their own space, further away from the main hotel. Terence O’Rourke has made this vision a reality for us, despite the complicated planning issues associated with building in an environmentally sensitive area. The team has looked at every angle and undertaken detailed planning, which has allowed us to move quickly and seamlessly to bring this vision to fruition.”

The area is currently being sensitively prepared for construction to take place and the suites are set to be open to guests in Summer 2012.