Architecture NewsPark & Public Space DesignWood Projects

A Timber Observatory in Barcelona Welcomes the Public to the Treetops

The Forest Lab for Observational Research (FLORA) is a prototype that can be installed in forests around the world. *Photo © Adria Goula/Pati Nunez Agency*

Constructed from 70 invasive pine trees harvested from the surrounding site, the 28-foot-tall observatory tower looks over Barcelona's Parc de Collserola. Photo © Adria Goula/Pati Nunez Agency

FLORA was designed by master's students who work and live in Valldaura Labs, the renovated 19th century farm building seen in the background. *Photo © Adria Goula/Pati Nunez Agency*

Just outside of Barcelona’s urban core is Parc de Collserola, a sprawling 300-square-mile nature reserve. Part of the Collsera mountain range that separates the city from the Vallès plain to its northwest, the densely forested parkland is inhabited by thousands of plant and animal species.

Photo © Adria Goula/Pati Nunez Agency

Since 2018, it has also been the home of Valldaura Labs, a satellite research campus of the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC). Each year, the campus hosts students from the Master of Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities (MAEBB) program, who collectively design and build a self-sufficient building prototype over the course of 11 months.

Now peeking out from the dense forest canopy adjacent to the campus hub is the net-draped Forest Lab for Observational Research and Analysis (FLORA), the 2022 cohort’s final project. The mass-timber observatory tower was constructed from 70 pine trees of an invasive species, which were harvested from the site and fabricated using Valldaura’s sawmill and CLT press. The 28-foot-high tower consists of three elevated walkways surrounding a cork-clad “core” with peepholes, from which researchers can discreetly study wildlife from afar.

The brief was inspired by the work of American biologist Dr. Margaret Lowman, also known as “Canopy Meg” and “the “real-life Lorax,” a world-renowned pioneer in the study of forest canopy ecology and conservation. Over the course of her 30-year career, Lowman has spearheaded the construction of canopy walkways, including the first in North America at Williams College in Massachusetts. IAAC co-founder Vicente Guallart, who directs the MAEBB program with architect and urbanist Daniel Ibañez, met Lowman at the 2022 European Forest Institute conference in Barcelona. “Normally we study the forest from the ground, but if you go up there, you find a different kind of biodiversity—you can see the behavior of the entire forest system,” he told RECORD.

Photo © Adria Goula/Pati Nunez Agency

Beginning in April of 2022, the team of 20 students analyzed four different sites on Valldaura’s 300-acre campus and selected a small canyon populated by five different tree species. Extending outwards from a rocky slope via a 40-foot-long glulam beam, FLORA welcomes both professional researchers and casual visitors. Over time, vegetation will creep up the exterior netting, further camouflaging human observers.

The 7-by-7-foot interior space was designed to temporarily house canopy researchers, and contains working space, a small bed, a radio, and a camera obscura which projects images of the forest onto the opposite wall. “The platforms outside are in immediate relation with the forest, and the core is almost the reverse side of that,” said Ibañez. “It's like a black box where your connection with your surroundings is mediated mostly by technology.” Birdhouses outfitted with cameras are embedded on the observatory’s roof, which also hosts a photovoltaic array that powers the structure.

Photos © Adria Goula/Pati Nunez Agency

Working with Lowman, Guallart and Ibañez hope that the FLORA prototype can be implemented in forests around the world. “Science is very important, but so is increasing public awareness and understanding of the natural environment,” says Guallart. “The best way to protect the forest is to bring people to it."