Final Concept - Submission "Ozols Retreat"
Submission for the 2019 Ozolini Tea House competition hosted by Bee Breeders, completed as a team of 2 with Jorge Saavedra.
The Ozols Retreat was an exploration of environment, space experience, and branding through architecture.
This concept enables tourists to reconnect with nature by being welcomed, being enveloped, and sheltering in nature as wildlife finds shelter in the crevices of a fallen tree. Layers of experiences were developed to impress memorable but natural imagery on horizontal and vertical visual planes.
Below were preliminary concepts prior to discovering the above concept...
Concept A "Welcoming Centre"
The building is platformed to present the visual of a floating but solid form, mimicking the growth of a tree. The heavy rigid form appears to be rooted and heavy, but cuts along the facade and roof allow the natural environment to pass through.
The architecture encourages entry in to the space.
Concept B1 "Lakeside Gallery"
The building is platformed over a lake as a bridge between two distinct environments while also making a statement about travel through the forest, or along the lake surface. Long retangular massing is cut at the ends, providing a distinct view at every angle of approach just as one would enjoy while traveling through the natural space.
The architecture encourages exploration of the form.
Concept B2 "Lakeside Gallery"
Taking lessons learned from Concept B1, this study goes further to reflect the natural environment in mimicing treetop canopies. Inhabitants will approach the familiar form of a cabin home, and in exploring the natural space they will also reveal different parts of the architecture.
The architecture encourages exploration of the environment in relationship with form.
