The Mulberry Treehouse

Ever seen a house made of living trees? You have now. These are the early stages of a biotecture prototype

- Sandra Tuszynska

Zenko and Janine Vukelic were the first people in Australia to experiment with growing their own home from mulberry trees.

Biotecture isn’t a new concept — it’s common practice in north-east India, where living bridges grown from aerial roots of rubber trees have been supporting river crossings for hundreds of years, becoming stronger and larger with time.

Some tree species grow by the natural process of inosculation. This is when the branches and roots grow into each other, becoming one (biologically similar to grafting). Another example is a strangler fig naturally forming a net-like weave by growing into itself. This behaviour can be encouraged by a process called pleaching: manually interlacing the branches of inosculating tree species.

A friend of Zenko and Janine, Chris Piper, co-founder of Queensland-based Carbon Capture Construction, designs and grows living structures. He helped the couple come to the decision to grow their own house with the aim of becoming fully sustainable.

When trained across a support structure, mulberry trees can eventually grow into a living tree house that can potentially live for 800 years or more! About 300 mulberry trees have been planted around Zenko and Janine’s house.

“Mulberries are just so versatile,” Zenko says. “Not only are they easy to grow, providing excellent shade in summer yet allowing the house to heat up in winter, but they’re also abundant fruiters. Our intention was always to increase the biodiversity of the bare block of land, and the mulberries provide a plentiful source of food and shelter for small birds, which have significantly increased in number since the trees have been planted.”