Habitecture

Habitecture was an investigative design research project into how fauna habitat creation can be aided by the use of digital fabrication.

Due to consistent logging, millions of animals that rely on tree hollows are homeless. Currently, nest boxes are the main solution to this problem, however many fail to properly accomodate the specific habitat requirements of their target species. This project centred around creating, species specific nest box faceplates that made fauna specific nest boxes more effective. A number of natural tree hollows with evidence of previous use by specific species were 3D scanned and modelled in Rhino to produce a series of faceplates that facilitate a natural entrance to nest boxes. A series of prototypes were 3D printed for this project, however if it were to be fully realised, the entrances would be CNC routed in timber.

The ultimate outcomes of Habitecture are yet to be fully realised, however with access to a high power CNC router, durable, hardwood versions of the faceplates could be fabricated and used.

Additionally, a series of natural hollow entrances were designed as a part of the project, these, once fabricated will be used in live tree hollow creation projects Nation Wide.