Bird Hide
A ‘fugleskjul’ (bird observation hide) in Langeland Island for the Danish Ornithological Society.
The project was managed by Henrik Innovation and in collaboration with, Biotope, and Søren Jensen Engineering Consultancy. It is funded by Realdania, the Birdlife Protection Foundation and the Aage V. Jensen Foundation. This is the first bird hide of hopefully many similar hides realised by the team, at other locations in Denmark or other countries.
The brief was to develop a unique type of floating bird observation hide, that would allows users to reach the birds’ aquatic environment closely without either disturbing wildlife or the surrounding landscape.
Called by the Birdlife Denmark Foundation the “innovative observation shed”, it is the first of its kind in Denmark, designed to be part of the nature as a floating hiding place, at the height of the water surface. Unlike traditional bird shelters that are removed from the water, the observation point is right at the surface, and instead of through see-through panels, birds are observed more discreetly, through mirror-glass windows. This bird hide is an experimental prototype, to measure the success of bird watchers and photographers when using this kind of structure.
Pathway Design
During my time at Holscher Design I narrowed down design specifications for the bridge, such as budget allowance, materials and dimensions, I met with stakeholders and partners. The pathway was made with wooden planks atop steel legs. It would be 25m length in total, and have a winding, instead of straight, path. This way, it followed the natural flow of the landscape, and kept the bird hide structure more hidden from view at the start of the path, accessed by the main road. I explored the curvature and placement of the wooden slats by physical model making and finalised it in SolidWorks.
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