It's all the rage and it' no wonder. Who doesn't dream of sleeping in a comfy treehouse in the middle of a forest, designed by top Swedish architects to boot? Sweden's Treehotel has just opened, and although we wouldn't mind staying in any of their cabins, we have to say that by far, our favorite is The Mirrorcube. At first the renders looked too good to be made a reality, but really, it's like a Copperfield illusion--one look it's there, the next it isn't! Here's more info and pictures of the glass cube being built and raised in place. Pretty spectacular!

The hotel is located in the beautiful village of Harads, approximately 60 km south of the Arctic Circle, and one hour drive from Luleå. With 6 cabins to start, the owners are planning to build 24 new rooms over a period of five years. These are the current cabins and their respective architects:

Already open for booking:

The Mirror Cube (Tham & Videgård Architects),
The Bird's Nest (Inredningsgruppen),
The Blue Cone (SandellSandberg), and
The Cabin (Cyrén & Cyrén) are already open for booking

Scheduled to open in October:

A Room With a View (Marge Architects) and
The UFO (Inredningsgruppen )

interior, Mirrorcube

The rooms vary from 15-30 square meters and they range between 4-6 meters from the ground. Built mainly with wood (except for the Mirrorcube's glass façade), they are equipeed with electric under-floor heating system which will be delivered from an "eco-friendly source of electricity."

Other "eco-friendly" features include an incineration toilet (which according to Lloyd Alter at Treehugger wasn't so eco-friendly last time he checked, but...), and a water efficient hand basin. Although the mirror effect is spectacular to us humans, it's an extremely worrying hazard for birds, an issue which according to Designboom, Lindvall addresses explaining that a special film visible to our flying friends will be applied to the glass. We hope it's true, and like other quoted eco-features, it would be nice to know the specifics. Another issue is scale; the more bungalows, the greater the environmental impact. With at least 24 more cabins planned for construction, we hope this pristine patch of forest doesn't become overridden by too many hotel rooms.

The owners also tell us about how the idea for the hotel began:

"Our inspiration came from the documentary film “Trädälskaren” (Treelover) by Jonas Selberg Augustsen. It is the story of three men from the urban environment who look to get back to their roots by building a tree house together. It is a philosophical film about what “the tree” means to us humans, both historically and culturally. It has been our inspiration to expand the idea into a hotel, with the added dimension of innovative modern design."

Prices start at around €300... More info and booking options at Treehotel and updates and images on their facebook page.