diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Paned.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Paned.zig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..173605337
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Paned.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+const Paned = @This();
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
+const font = @import("../../font/main.zig");
+const CoreSurface = @import("../../Surface.zig");
+
+const Window = @import("Window.zig");
+const Surface = @import("Surface.zig");
+const Tab = @import("Tab.zig");
+const c = @import("c.zig");
+
+const Child = union(enum) {
+    surface: *Surface,
+    paned: *Paned,
+    empty: void,
+};
+
+const Parent = union(enum) {
+    tab: *Tab,
+    paned: *Paned,
+}
+
+// We'll need to keep a reference to the Window this belongs to for various reasons
+window: *c.GtkWindow,
+
+// We keep track of the tab label's text so that if a child widget of this pane
+// gets focus (and is a Surface) we can reset the tab label appropriately
+label_text: *c.GtkWidget,
+
+// Our actual GtkPaned widget
+paned: *c.GtkPaned,
+
+// We have two children, each of which can be either a Surface, another pane,
+// or empty. We're going to keep track of which each child is here.
+child1: Child,
+child2: Child,
+
+// We also hold a reference to our parent widget, so that when we close we can either
+// maximize the parent pane, or close the tab.
+parent: Parent,
+
+pub fn create(alloc: Allocator, window: *Window, label_text: *c.GtkWidget) !*Paned {
+    var paned = try alloc.create(Paned);
+    errdefer alloc.destroy(paned);
+    try paned.init(window, label_text);
+    return paned;
+}
+
+pub fn init(self: *Paned, window: *Window, label_text: *c.GtkWidget) !void {
+    self.* = .{
+        .window = window,
+        .label_text = label_text,
+        .paned = undefined,
+        .child1 = Child{.empty},
+        .child2 = Child{.empty},
+        .parent = undefined,
+    };
+
+    const paned = c.gtk_paned_new(c.GTK_ORIENTATION_HORIZONTAL);
+    const gtk_paned: *c.GtkPaned = @ptrCast(paned);
+    errdefer c.gtk_widget_destroy(paned);
+    self.paned = gtk_paned;
+
+    const surface = try self.newSurface(self.window.actionSurface());
+    // We know that both panels are currently empty, so we maximize the 1st
+    c.gtk_paned_set_position(self.paned, 100);
+    const child_widget: *c.GtkWidget = @ptrCast(surface.gl_area);
+    const child = Child{ .surface = surface };
+    c.gtk_paned_pack1(self.paned, child_widget, 1, 1);
+    self.child1 = child;
+}
+
+pub fn newSurface(self: *Paned, parent_: ?*CoreSurface) !*Surface {
+    // Grab a surface allocation we'll need it later.
+    var surface = try self.window.app.core_app.alloc.create(Surface);
+    errdefer self.window.app.core_app.alloc.destroy(surface);
+
+    // Inherit the parent's font size if we are configured to.
+    const font_size: ?font.face.DesiredSize = font_size: {
+        if (!self.window.app.config.@"window-inherit-font-size") break :font_size null;
+        const parent = parent_ orelse break :font_size null;
+        break :font_size parent.font_size;
+    };
+
+    // Initialize the GtkGLArea and attach it to our surface.
+    // The surface starts in the "unrealized" state because we have to
+    // wait for the "realize" callback from GTK to know that the OpenGL
+    // context is ready. See Surface docs for more info.
+    const gl_area = c.gtk_gl_area_new();
+    try surface.init(self.window.app, .{
+        .window = self,
+        .gl_area = @ptrCast(gl_area),
+        .title_label = @ptrCast(label_text),
+        .font_size = font_size,
+    });
+    return surface;
+}
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Tab.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Tab.zig
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ac33631f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Tab.zig
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+const Tab = @This();
+
+const std = @import("std");
+const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
+
+const Paned = @import("Paned.zig");
+const Surface = @import("Surface.zig");
+const Window = @import("Window.zig");
+const c = import("c.zig");
+
+const Child = union(enum) {
+    surface: *Surface,
+    paned: *Paned,
+}
+
+window: *Window,
+label_text: *c.GtkLabel,
+close_button: *c.GtkButton,
+child: Child,
+
+pub fn create(alloc: Allocator, window: *Window) !*Tab {
+    var tab = try alloc.create(Tab);
+    errdefer alloc.destroy(paned);
+    try tab.init(window);
+}
+
+pub fn init(self: *Tab, window) !void {
+    self.* = .{
+        window = Window,
+        label_text = undefined,
+        close_button = undefined,
+        child = undefined,
+    };
+    // todo - write the function and initialize everything
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/apprt/gtk/Window.zig b/src/apprt/gtk/Window.zig
index e06ea5fbd..81ee174ae 100644
--- a/src/apprt/gtk/Window.zig
+++ b/src/apprt/gtk/Window.zig
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const font = @import("../../font/main.zig");
 const CoreSurface = @import("../../Surface.zig");
 
 const App = @import("App.zig");
+const Paned = @import("Paned.zig");
 const Surface = @import("Surface.zig");
 const icon = @import("icon.zig");
 const c = @import("c.zig");