Hasta La Ideas

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pa href=”http://www.arup.com/”Arup Associates/a have just won the a href=”http://www.britishland.com/responsibility/beyondthehive”Beyond the Hive Competition/a, sponsored by the City of London, to design a Bug Hotel for its parks. This one encourages the presence of stag beetles, solitary bees, butterflies, moths, spiders, lacewings and ladybirds by combining all these species’ required environments into one./p

pThe ‘hotel’ consists of a vertical wall with cells divided into a voronoi pattern, where detritus and materials can be stuffed to creaqte the perfect environments for a wide variety of insects. The sides of the hotel are accessible to moths, and the top can absorb rain water through planting./p

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pHere are some of the species’ particular requirements. /p

blockquote Stag Beetles: Need rotting logs for their larvae to eat and grow in. The design must ensure that these do not dry out, but neither must they be allowed to get too wet. This habitat should be located at ground level.

pSolitary bees: Above the stag beetle compartments and consisting of stacked logs of varying sizes and cut bamboo, with ends facing out. Compacted sand/dirt mixed with broken terracotta is also useful./p

pButterflies and Moths: A series of vertical slots should be used as an entrance to a dry wooden space that is filled with vertical planes of bark./p

pSpiders, Lacewings and Ladybirds: A combination of materials can be used here, including discarded shredded shoes; a variety of materials to produce various grades of space, including rolled up corrugated cardboard within plastic tube./blockquote/p

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pWe’re thrilled this project won and not another over-designed but inert digital form. The lack of control over the stuffing is what makes it great. Not only does it take on the quality of science exhibit, but it can be suited to any habitat, and is just ad-hoc enough to encourage casual participation by the general, park-going public./p

pAnd yes, these are for sale, available by order from Arup./p

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pThough Arup took the prize, all the submissions were pretty great. See a few more after the jump, and read about them all on the competition a href=”http://www.britishland.com/responsibility/beyondthehive”website/a. br /
/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/arups_insect_hotel__16927.asp”(more…)/a
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