More than 500 architects and students participated in a competition to design tree houses as holiday dwellings in tropical regions. The entrants could choose between four locations: Hawaii, Fiji, Hainan and Vietnam. Among the most interesting responses to the brief was the present scheme, which won one of the four first prizes with its concept for a series of light housing capsules suspended from elastic cables between palm trees. The proposals were not made for a specific location, but for a?typical area in the Pacific where there are coconut palms and constant breezes, so that the capsules would sway in the wind. In order not to overwhelm the slender trees visually, the form of the capsules was based on that of a coconut. The loads are divided between three palms. A ribbed form of construction with carbon fibres was used – similar to that found in shipbuilding – which helped to reduce the weight of the capsules. The space-enclosing skin is a transparent or translucent membrane. The supporting cables are attached by snap links to an external metal fabric. The capsules are prefabricated from high-tech materials, but the use of natural or recycled products is conceivable. Spatial modules can be added horizontally and vertically to create larger units flexibly linked by “suspension bridges”. Like a hammock, the tree houses and their supporting system are relatively independent of the position of the trees.