Another Place, the Lake, to add treehouse and shepherd huts to grounds

Another Place, the Lake in Ullswater, Cumbria – from the team behind Cornwall's Watergate Bay – will be adding a treehouse and shepherd hut accommodation to the hotel grounds next year.

Its new ‘Outside’ rooms and spaces will include a 70 square metre ‘treehouse’ with floor-to-ceiling views to the lake. Its three different sections – two double bedrooms and a bathroom – will be connected by glazed walkways. A large outdoor deck will house a freestanding bath, while the inside will have a log burner, sofa area and reclaimed oak floors.

There will also be six oak shepherd huts, three for families and three for couples, crafted by the Blackdown Shepherd Hut company, with stargazing roofs over freestanding double beds.

Each unit will comprise of a ‘brace’ of two shepherd huts, joined with a glass walkway. One side will house a double bed with stargazing roof and solid copper bath; the other a lounge area, log burner and pantry (or an extra bunk room instead of the copper bath for the family huts).

The three couples’ huts will have lake views with their own landscaped areas designed by landscape architect Laurel Truscott, a terrace, swing sofas or rocking chairs, and bean bags.

There will also be a Victorian-style glasshouse to host woodfired feasts to garden yoga sessions; and a rebuilt ‘sheep shed’ lakeside cabin for warm year-round changing, showers and wetsuit drying post-swim.

A 14m x 5m glasshouse, created by Hartley Botanic, will sit next to the kitchen garden, and grow some edible plants inside. Guests will be able to have breakfast, coffees, lunch, woodfired pizzas and feast nights around a long wooden table; or do yoga and creative workshops in the flexible space. There will also be a small terrace outside.

Another Place, the Lake’s chief executive Will Ashworth said: “The treehouse will be one of a kind, and the biggest accommodation on offer in any of our locations. But the whole set – the treehouse, shepherd huts, glasshouse and sheep shed – will bring a new energy and buzz. We’re blending great hospitality and novel experiences with a sublime natural environment.”

He added: “They are going to be absolutely charming. And the quality of artisan joinery within these huts – which are made of FSC-certified French oak – is exceptional. I’ve been bowled over by their quality.”

Matt Hulme of Dynargh Design, who redesigned the hotel’s Georgian suites, as well as creating Watergate Bay’s beach lofts, has also worked closely with Blackdown and Harrison Pitt Architects (who designed the treehouse) on the interiors.

Sustainability has been a central focus, with reclaimed flooring and tiles, 100% renewable electricity and heating from the hotel’s biomass boiler. The treehouse will be built on a wooden frame and use an eco-screw pile system for the foundations, avoiding the need for concrete or damage to the mature trees in its setting.

The spaces are expected to begin opening from Easter 2022.

Another Place, the Lake, opened in 2017 as the first in a new collection of activity-led destination properties. The next property is expected to open in Hampshire.