Treehouse

Camp Twin Lakes is used by more than 40 partners, all camping programs in Georgia for children with serious illnesses, disabilities and other life challenges.

Lord Aeck Sargent designed the original facilities for the camp in the early 1990s and updated the master plan in 2007. In response to Camp Twin Lakes' goals, the plan envisioned wheelchair accessible nature trails traveling around the camp’s two lakes, one leading to a “Wild Side” with a treehouse where campers could connect with nature. The treehouse is sited on a sloping area of land near the end of the nature trail. Children in wheelchairs enter via a curved wooden boardwalk and find themselves on the treehouse deck about 15 feet above ground overlooking one of the camp’s lakes.

The design includes one octagonal-shaped main space in the center – used primarily for environmental arts and crafts – with a series of four, multi-sided spaces. Another space with built-in bench seating forms an arc of about 270 degrees and is used for the camp’s drumming program. A smaller space is used for storytelling and small group activities. The other two spaces, which flank the doorway to the main space, are a utility room and a staff/storage room. The main interior room and four smaller spaces, along with an upper level overlook, known as the “bird’s nest” because it is located amid the boughs of a large oak tree, are surrounded by a 600-square-foot covered deck. The enclosed area has floor-to-ceiling windows with double layer screens.