This past week, the Dutch Society for the Preservation of Natural Heritage received a new observation tower during the mini-symposium ‘Experience Nature with innovative concrete’ in Peize. A multidisciplinary case study team comprised of UNStudio, ABT, BAM Utiliteitsbouw and Haitsma Beton were experimenting with the characteristics of ultra high performance concrete – a super dense mixture of fine grain structure which contains steel fibers – to manifest their findings in a functional, operative design. The observation tower will rest in the forested reserves of De Onlanden in Groningen and will extend 5 meters above the tree line to offer amazing views of the landscape.
More about the tower after the break.
For a firm whose work manages to maintain a sleek aesthetic no matter the form or scale of the project, the observation tower granted the team of UNStudio’s Inventive Materials Platform (one of their four in-house research platforms) the ability to investigate custom-made material applications and facilitate an imaginative collaboration with other experts and manufacturers in the construction industry.
