Work is underway on the latest luxury Treehouse at world-renowned hotel Chewton Glen after planning and design consultancy Terence O’Rourke paved the way for success in one of the UK’s most environmentally sensitive areas.
Set on green belt land in the New Forest National Park, issues surrounding granting permission were aired before the latest Treehouse was given the go-ahead. The reputation of Terence O’Rourke’s work along with the hotel’s standing and the benefits to tourism were all cited as reasons for it getting the all-clear.
With 12 Treehouses currently available at Chewton Glen, the new design will raise the standard of luxury treetop accommodation even further boasting the most secluded and private setting as well as its very own professional kitchen where a personal chef can take care of all private dining arrangements.
Due for completion in early October this year, the new spacious Treehouse will be the largest in Chewton Glen’s portfolio sleeping up to eight people, perfect for families or private functions. Alternatively, the accommodation can be divided into two separate suites for smaller parties.
In keeping with Chewton Glen’s treetop residences, the latest offering will include a wood burner, marble bathroom and a large outdoor terrace with day beds and hot tubs to take in the forest views from a tree canopy.
The development is part of the exclusive hotel’s ongoing expansion plans after Terence O’Rourke recently handed over £2.6m cookery school The Kitchen, which is headed up by celebrity chef James Martin. Terence O’Rourke also secured the original planning consent for the existing Treehouse suites launched in 2012.
The news comes as several high-profile projects are coming to fruition for the award-winning consultancy, which include Grosvenor, Berkeley Homes, MEPC and Ordnance Survey among its client list, and which has just captured the project to develop a neighbourhood plan at Canary Wharf.
Major housing developments across the UK, including Northstowe new town and Trumpington Meadows in Cambridgeshire, South West Bicester and Barton sustainable urban extension in Oxfordshire and Kings Hill new community in Kent, have added to Terence O’Rourke’s tally of 55,000 new homes which have been planned by the company since it was founded in 1986.
This total figure is also boosted by housing developments at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, Whiteley in Hampshire, as well as at Newbury Racecourse and new garden villages proposed for Chelmsford, Cornwall, Guildford and Oxford.
University projects to provide student housing and campus expansions at sites including the Universities of Exeter, York and Surrey are calculated by the firm to have supported the creation of 25,000 new student places.
Work to develop terminals at Luton and Bournemouth airports are estimated to have helped ease the passage of some 15 million passengers. And the company’s work with the energy industry has resulted in windfarms at Dumfries, Galloway and Bridlington, boosting national power output by 500 MW each year.
The company, which has offices in London and Bournemouth, says it had to overcome a variety of challenges to see the Treehouse project getting permission.
Terry Williams, director at Terence O’Rourke, said: “We believe the decision of the planners to grant permission supported our belief of the great benefits of the proposal. We overcame various challenges by closely working with many stakeholders, providing precedence studies and undertaking research trips.”
Andrew Stembridge, managing director at Chewton Glen, said: “Terence O’Rourke has successfully supported the evolution of this unique property with design and planning solutions, and brought the hotel unprecedented international PR exposure and improved the dynamics of the business.”
The hotel has counted David and Victoria Beckham and Gwyneth Paltrow among its guests. It has been voted the best in the UK on several occasions and in 2014 Conde Nast described it as one of the world’s top travel experiences.