Architecture studio Precht has unveiled the system called Bert for tiny-homes startup Baumbau, a conceptual modular treehouse shaped like a tree trunk, with large round windows designed to make it look like the single-eyed character from the film Minions.

Bert is designed to sit on a circular base, with tube-shaped modular cells containing kitchens, living space, bedrooms and bathrooms that can be stacked over and around it like the limbs of a tree branching out from the trunk. The treehouse would be made from wood, with leaf-like shingles to help it blend in with a forest setting. If used for an off-grid retreat, solar panels would be installed on the roof and composting toilets added at ground level.

Interiors are designed to be dark and cosy, with large round windows and balconies like the eyes of a cartoon character to frame views of the landscape.
Bert is designed to be pre-fabricated off-site in a factory then assembled in situ. More modules could be added and stacked on top of each other to expand each treehouse.

The modules can exist in small, self-contained arrangements as tiny homes, or turned into larger homes or even communities.

As well as off-grid retreats, Precht suggested the Bert system could be used for hotels or multi-family living arrangements in cities.

If wood isn’t easily available where the treehouse is due to located, the architects suggested steel could be used instead ...