'arup associates' insect hotel'
all images courtesy of arup associates


london-based arup associates have won the top golden beetle prize for their design
of 'insect hotel' in the competition hosted by british land and the city of london, 'beyond the hive'.
the brief called for a sustainable and creative insect habitat for the city of london parks.

the bio-mimetic design is constructed out of 25 layers of 20 mm-thick birch plywood.
the irregular voids are cut out using a CNC machine and loosely bonded together on site
with mechanical fixings. the 1500 mm x 1500 mm hotel's facade is influenced from
the voronoi pattern, an organic system of irregular shapes often found in nature, such as the wings
of a dragonfly. the 500 mm-deep compartments provide an armature for the recycled waste materials,
each compacted with different types of deadfall to cater to different types of insects:
stag beetles require rotting logs for their larvae to eat and grow in, while butterflies and moths
prefer a series of vertical slots using dry wooden pieces and tree barks.



different materials are used for different species






design scheme



designers with the insect hotel