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Home builder/designer pair give new meaning to ‘tree house’ concept

A potted plant can bring life to a home, but a tree growing out of the floor adds a soul. That’s according to a home builder and a home designer who recently collaborated on an innovative project in Richmond.
Tree in Richmond house
Shoreline Homes and Axes Design has plans to integrate more nature into their architecture designs.

A potted plant can bring life to a home, but a tree growing out of the floor adds a soul. That’s according to a home builder and a home designer who recently collaborated on an innovative project in Richmond.

Brennan Sharma, founder of Shoreline Homes, and Linya Bu, co-founder of Axes Design, designed and built a $1.2 million home featuring a live black olive tree growing in the middle of the 4,274 square feet house.

Integrating nature and a tree into the architecture gave the home “a soul” in a way that a potted plant never could, according to the pair.

Sharma, who was born and raised in Richmond, said there once was an abundance of trees, a dense forest, but it was “suddenly somewhat destroyed” with the construction of new developments.

“I’m seeing trees coming back, but I’m still seeing the lack of land available for trees,” said Sharma.

“We thought about this and said, ‘what better way to do this than to bring the trees inside the home in a safe and effective manner.’ It’s this whole concept of blending nature into the home.”

Sharma and Bu told the Richmond News that the house was designed with the help of many professionals, including a structural engineer to ensure the roots of the tree would not damage the foundation of the house while still being able to grow naturally in the indoor space.

“We took a while to choose the proper type of tree, one that didn’t have an aggressive root system, didn’t require natural precipitation and could be watered at the roots,” they said.

“The tree is also expected to reach a certain height and stop growing up; instead, it will grow denser.”

A total of 20-feet has been allowed for the tree growth, but they don’t expect it to grow any taller than 14 to 15 feet.

While the living tree design is the first of its kind for the pair, they say it won’t be the last.

Future projects will also be nature-focused, explains Sharma, adding they want to be more environmentally friendly and conscientious.

“Because we are in the building industry, which means our job will require some trees to be cut, we want to make sure we can plant at least one tree for the ones we use,” he said.

Too many people have been building homes “for the sake of making money” instead of “taking pride” in the practice, he added.