B-tower

BEE HOTEL

 

Air Watchtowers are awkward icons of the forgotten past, a period in the Cold War history. In order to preserve these retired military structures, we developed a (rescue) plan to transform the last remaining towers for the public. We immediately fell in love with the towers, especially their powerful sculptural appearance against the flat Dutch landscape. When considering a new function for these structures we noticed their similarity to honeycombs. The design is an additive, like a wild bee nest which sticks to a tree. B-tower functions as a pollination base and will accommodate wild bees, a storage space and a small roof garden with dandelions. Everything has been designed with eco-friendly principles. In the Year of the Bee (2012) the B-tower has been presented to the public at the Architecture Biennale Venice.