VAV Tower is a tower for observing wild birds in Latvia's Pape National Park. The authors designed an openwork wooden structure that does not interfere with the natural environment.
Pape National Park, located in southwestern Latvia, was opened in 2003 and covers an area of eleven thousand hectares. The area, is mainly wetlands that are breeding territory for two hundred and fifty species of migratory birds. The Bee Breeders Platform, in cooperation with Pasaules Dabas Fonds, has organized a competition to design a new observation station. The structure could replace a building built in 1966 and destroyed by fire. The new facility proposed by those taking part in the competition should be easy to build, consist of at least two viewing platforms, not exceed eleven meters in height, and interfere as little as possible with its surroundings.
The tower is built of wooden modules
© Karolina Toporkiewicz, Weronika Kogut
wooden puzzle
In response to the competition task, Karolina Toporkiewicz and Weronika Kogut created a design for an openwork tower located among wetlands, on the edge of Pape Lake. The structure is connected by a floating platform to a road running nearby. The tower's structure was designed to minimize interference with the natural environment. It consists of twelve prefabricated elements - wooden trusses. Three of them are platform structures, the rest are openwork exterior walls, consisting of triangular modules with sides of 2.2 meters in length. At the height of the first platform, the division thickens to form smaller triangles with sides of 1.1 meters. Some modules have been filled with solid or openwork planking.
Two platforms facilitate nature observation
© Karolina Toporkiewicz, Weronika Kogut
openwork to facilitate observation
Two viewing platforms facilitate observation of wildlife. The first of them, with an area of seventeen square meters, is located almost five meters above the ground. At this height the openwork of the structure begins to thicken, and the spaces between the truss beams are filled with boarding. Here bird lovers will find shelter from wind, rain and strong sun, as well as a full panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. The higher platform of fifteen square meters is completely open and allows unobstructed observation. Here a lattice structure filled with openwork planking serves as a handrail. Stairs supported by wooden truss ties lead to both viewing platforms.
The footbridge leading to the tower runs through wetlands
© Karolina Toporkiewicz, Weronika Kogut
floating footbridge
The footbridge makes it possible to reach the tower "with a dry leg". The authors minimized interference with the park area by using a floating structure, divided into rectangular modules two meters long. Each module consists of a wooden truss, planking and polystyrene blocks covered with a layer of polyethylene. The modules are connected by pegs, which allows the individual elements to float freely during the period when the area is flooded with water. When the ground is dry, the structure rests directly on the ground.
In addition to its tourist value, the new observation tower will be used to record the annual migration habits of fifty thousand birds.
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illustrations courtesy of Karolina Toporkiewicz and Weronika Kogut
