- Project: House Around the Tree
- Architect: TIMM Architecture
- Location: Georgia, Tbilisi
- Year: 2023
- Area: 450 m2
- Photography: Beka Gulva
Living with the Tree, Not Without It
Perched on the green hills of Okrokana above Tbilisi, House Around the Tree by TIMM Architecture is a poetic dialogue between modern living and the natural world.
At its core — quite literally — stands a mature tree that defines the life of the house. Rather than cutting it down, the architects built the entire home around it, allowing nature to remain the centerpiece of family life.
The project redefines the relationship between architecture and landscape. Instead of treating nature as a backdrop, the tree becomes the starting point, shaping the geometry, layout, and emotion of the space.
Concept – A Home That Grows with Nature
The guiding principle behind the design was simple yet radical: let the tree decide.
From this single gesture, the home’s volumes extend outward, wrapping gently around the trunk and embracing it as a living column that connects all levels. The tree’s canopy is visible from every floor, while a skylight above floods the core with light that shifts in color and intensity throughout the day.
The architecture doesn’t merely frame the tree — it celebrates it. The central atrium becomes a living sculpture, a reminder that coexistence with nature can be both poetic and practical.
Architectural Composition
The 450 m² residence unfolds across three levels, adapting to the steep topography of Tbilisi’s hillside terrain.
- Lower Level: Entrance, garage, and service spaces are embedded into the slope, creating a solid concrete base that anchors the home.
- Main Level: The living room, dining area, and kitchen form a continuous open space that extends toward terraces and a reflecting pool. The tree trunk rises through this heart of the home, connecting life inside to the surrounding forested views.
- Upper Level: Private zones hover lightly above, enclosed with wooden screens that filter light and offer privacy without sacrificing openness.
Circulation spirals around the central tree, encouraging movement that is both spatial and experiential — each turn revealing new light, texture, and perspective.
Materials – Raw, Warm, and Honest
The material palette of House Around the Tree reflects the natural balance between earth and sky.
Exposed concrete forms the base — robust, grounded, and elemental. Vertical timber screens envelop the upper floors, softening the structure and adding a rhythmic texture that plays with light and shadow.
Glass connects everything, dissolving the barriers between inside and out. Throughout the day, the tree casts dynamic shadows across the interiors, reminding occupants that the house is alive with change.
Inside, finishes remain minimal: polished concrete floors, wooden ceilings, and neutral tones create a calm visual atmosphere where nature becomes the dominant decorative element.
Light, Air, and Connection
Natural light is the invisible architecture of this home. Large openings and voids ensure that daylight penetrates deep into the structure, while the tree and louvered façades provide shade and natural cooling.
Ventilation is entirely passive — cross-breezes flow freely through the open floor plan, reducing the need for mechanical systems.
By integrating environmental design so seamlessly, the house maintains year-round comfort with minimal energy use. This quiet sustainability reinforces TIMM’s philosophy that responsible architecture is rooted in respect — respect for site, climate, and life itself.
The Experience of Living Around a Tree
Walking through the house feels like moving within a living organism. The tree becomes a constant companion — visible from bedrooms, mirrored in glass corridors, reflected on the water surface, and silhouetted against the sky through the central skylight.
Each space is designed to capture a specific sensory experience: the gentle rustle of leaves, the filtered morning sun, the scent of rain through open louvers. This multisensory connection turns daily rituals — eating, reading, resting — into moments of awareness.
A New Kind of Georgian Modernism
While modern houses in Tbilisi often emphasize scale and luxury, House Around the Tree proposes a quieter kind of sophistication.
It demonstrates that elegance can be achieved through empathy — not through dominance over nature, but through integration with it.
By rooting contemporary minimalism in Georgian landscape and culture, TIMM Architecture adds a new voice to the region’s design language — one that values humility, honesty, and harmony.
House Around the Tree is more than a beautiful home — it’s an architectural statement about coexistence. It teaches us that modernity and nature need not be opposites. By preserving and embracing the living tree at its core, TIMM Architecture created a home that breathes, grows, and evolves with its environment.
This is the future of architecture: human, grounded, and alive.
