Case study with Treehouse Retreats, at Diamond Waters.

Owner Peter, built the Treehouse Retreats from scratch and found away to preserve the natural environment and make it accessible, despite a number of challenges along the way.

Peter’s background in health, inspired him to stick to his plans and find accessible options.

Our wetland walkway story is a great point in case. We had to overcome huge department of environment obstacles to build the walkway – 7 years of work. Then the engineer in consideration of flood forces stymied any hand-rails or edges.  We are going back to work on the edges now that we have more flood data since we survived the last flood. Feedback from people so far however despite the imperfections for accessible design is that “at least we have access now even if it is not in your eyes perfect”. My take home was that perfection is not so important as continual improvement and engagement.

The final point is that our walkways may have cost a fair bit of money but they are now considered by most to be the sexiest part of our design – the element that pulls everything together.

According to a recent study, for every $1 spent on accessible facilities, you get a $13 return on investment.

Peter mentioned ‘the joy’ he gets from welcoming guests with specific needs, it makes it so worthwhile!

Plus Peter understands access and inclusion is a continual work in progress.

We say – Keep up the awesome work Peter! Well done.