The Sustainability Treehouse | Mithun

The Sustainability Treehouse, a Living Building Challenge targeted interpretive and gathering facility situated in the forest at the Summit Bechtel Reserve, serves as a unique icon of camp adventure, environmental stewardship and innovative building design. Mithun led the integrated design process and a multidisciplinary team to achieve the engaging, high‐performance facility.

Photography by © Joe Fletcher

The Treehouse provides dynamic educational and gathering spaces for exploring and understanding the site and ecosystem at the levels of ground, tree canopy, and sky. The towering Corten steel frame elevates visitors to extraordinary vantages and provides an armature for green building systems, such as photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and a large cistern and water cleansing system. Interactive exhibits showcase and celebrate sustainable technologies.Overall, the Treehouse captures the waonder of childhood exploration and places environmental education at the forefront of meaningful experiences and camp messages for thousands of annual visitors to take home.

Photography by © Joe Fletcher

Project Info:
Architects: Mithun
Location: 2550 Jack Furst Dr, Glen Jean, WV 25846, United States
Executive Architect/Architect of Record: BNIM
Area: 3357.0 ft2
Project Year: 2013
Photographs: Joe Fletcher
Manufacturers: Artistar Lighting, Atlas Steel, B-K Lighting, Dovetail Solar & Wind, Eco Wood Stain, Rainwater Management Solutions, Selux, Spectrum Lighting, UGE
Landscape Architect: Nelson Byrd Woltz
Structural Engineering: Tipping Mar
MEP Engineer: Integral Group
Exhibit Design: Volume, Inc./ Studio Terpeluk
Lighting Design: Dave Nelson & Associates
Geotechnical: S&ME
Code Consultant: FP&C Consultants
Contractor: Swope Construction
Client: Boy Scouts of America / Trinity Works
Site Area: 10,000 acres