游乐时光小屋丨中国武汉

Architects:Advanced Architecture Lab,Wiki World

Area:80m²

Year:2026

Photographs:Arch-Exist

Manufacturers:Rothoblaas

Category:Cabins & Lodges

Design Team:Mu Wei, Feng Zhaoxian, Wu Baorong, He Wen, Xu Xiaodong, Liao Xiaotian, Wang Yuanying, Chen Liang

Construction:Wiki World, Natong Jiazhu Wood Industry

Project Management:United Investment Merryda Hotel Management Group

City:Wuhan

Country:China

"Playtime Cabin" is an experimental project of "Merryda Wiki World • Secret Camp", located within a metasequoia forest inhabited by migratory birds, where over a dozen treehouses are discreetly nestled. The concept comes from kids' shared imagination. This project is also part of the "Wiki Building School" co-building with nature initiative, representing another attempt by our team to explore the diversity of living spaces.

1 A Cabin as a Playscape - In fact, after building over a hundred wilderness cabins, we have yet to find the ultimate answer for returning to nature. On the contrary, every time we stand in the woods, the possibilities of dwelling still spread through the forest. When you grow tired of conventional ideas or feel your imagination running dry, why not say hello and chat with the children dashing across the lawn? They have endless energy, sweat beading on their foreheads. And so the prototype of this cabin was born: How wonderful it would be if my parents forgot me at the amusement park! Can we spend the night at the playground? What would it be like if playscape became home? Thus, we began to envision this miniature, livable playscape: open boundaries, unconventional pathways, the undulating climbs and dives that children love most, and of course, the deep sense of security that comes from living in nature—continuing to befriend the trees.

We established a clear, square courtyard space in the forest, enveloping several of the site's trees within the playscape. We imagined the act of dwelling as a continuous flow of space, woven and interwoven, contained within this square boundary. The black courtyard walls define the limits of the home and create a sense of security. On the ground floor are the living room, bedroom, and bathroom, with both the spaces and the walls arranged at irregular angles, forming several small triangular courtyards and a spatial logic full of exploration. The playscape slide becomes a corridor leading to a tall treehouse—the endpoint of the spatial journey, offering a panoramic view of the forest. Beneath the treehouse are a swing and a terrace. The unconventional spaces and angles restore the children's vision of a playscape park—this is a vibrant, energetic home.

2 No direction home - Although the floor plan is rectangular, with randomly placed trees, winding and undulating pathways, a swinging hammock or swing, and a lofty treehouse, we hope this becomes a home without a strong sense of direction. Every space offers a glimpse of nature, and sunlight spills onto the floor in every room. Children love this kind of natural dwelling. They don't describe directions as north or south, nor do they use spaces in conventional ways. In this deliberately disorienting wooden cabin, living becomes a time of play. We intentionally covered the courtyard and the ground-floor spaces entirely with black materials, leaving only the treehouse—silver and luminous—glowing like a lighthouse in the playscape at night.

3 Wiki World-Build Small, Dream Big - Wiki World has been committed to returning to natural life through natural construction. The "Red Bridge Cabin" continues such a natural wild house experiment, jumping out of the inertia of the size of the thinking, focusing on the relationship between living behaviour and environment, the answer of space must be far from the daily living experience, even a little paranoid. The cabin makes home supper narrow, 'Small' brings us closer to the material, so we are more sensitive. Now that we are in the forest, let's go barefoot for a day and listen to the sound of dead leaves being crushed on the terrace.

4 Build Naturally - The entire building adopts a glued timber structure, with each custom-shaped component and joint digitally designed and customized, achieving 100% prefabricated assembly. When it comes to living spaces, there is certainly no standard answer—everyone hopes their dwelling can reflect their own understanding of life, hence the concept of a "Playtime Cabin" was born. Wiki World continues its longstanding philosophy of natural construction. We preserved every tree and bamboo on the site, maintaining the original woodland and path textures. The houses are entirely elevated above the ground, and all structures are independently developed prefabricated timber systems, built collaboratively by the team and the users.

Natural buildings can be built like Lego. Little cabins, like building blocks, were placed in the forest. We stick to the original wild wood construction technique that we hand fired the façade of the carbonized wood boards. The cabins are all connected by small metal components that can be repeatedly assembled. We try to create a precise relationship between the cabins and the environment in the nature. Each wooden cabin is elevated above the ground, and no walls or artificial landscapes are used. Nature is the best package.

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