In this paper we introduce a class of trees, called {\em generalized compressed trees.} Generalized compressed trees can be derived from complete binary trees by performing certain `contraction' operations. A generalized compressed tree $CT$ of height $h$ has approximately $25\%$ fewer nodes than a complete binary tree $T$ of height $h$. We show that these trees have smaller (up to a $74\%$ reduction) 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional VLSI layouts than the complete binary trees . We also show that algorithms initially designed for $T$ can be simulated by $CT$ with at most a constant slow down. In particular, algorithms having non-pipelined computation structure and originally designed for $T$ can be simulated by $CT$ with no slow down.