Namib Biomimesis Research and Eco-Tourism Tower

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Namib Biomimesis Research and Eco-Tourism Tower

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Residential › Apartment
Hospitality + Sport › Hotel
Cultural › Cultural Center Museum
Industrial › Research Facility

Namib Biomimesis Research Tower (NABR) designed by architects Hunter Ruthrauff, Hayley Stewart, and Garrett Van Leeuwen
is a biomimetic research lab in the Namib Naukluft National Park with
the purpose of studying indigenous plant and animal species which may
act as role models for the creation of new ecological technologies. It
consists of a research center, eco-tourism hub, and a utility tower
proposing a low-impact solution within the Namib Desert. Eco-tourism has
recently become popular to thrill seekers looking to carve down the
massive dunes on sand board. This coupled with a research center
invested in new sustainable technology creates a micro economy that can
support the continued preservation of the land.
NABR hopes to edify travelers on the biological phenomenon that dwell
within one of the oldest most hostile environments on earth which has
subsequently forced their evolution to take a very specific route.
Environments like this yield the greatest amount of biomimetic
potential, therefore it is in these places where man must look for
sustainable solutions. NABR was created with two such organisms in mind,
those are: the fog basking beetle (genus Stenocara) and the Welwitschia
plant (genus Welwitschiaceae). Without water not even the most
intelligent organism on earth could survive.
The Namibian Desert receives less than an inch per year of rain but
it is one of few in the world that have a frequent fog roll in during
the early mornings. On such mornings hundreds of fog basking beetles can
be seen perched atop the tall dunes slanting their bodies forward high
on their legs. The beetle’s shell is divided into hydrophilic bumps and
hydrophobic crevices. Microscopic water molecules build up the bumps
until they coalesce into larger droplets to heavy to be held by the
hydrophilic attraction. They then travel down into the hydrophobic
region which is contoured and shaped directly toward the mouth. Aside
from the surface composition a key component to the beetle’s ability to
capture water is its body temperature being colder than the air around
it.
The tower employs a similar strategy but with inspiration from the
Welwitschia plant which has a tap root that can extend up to 10 feet.
The design here being that in order to cool the hydrophilic cells it
would require cool water radiating through them. In order to mimic the
beetle’s strategy dripping water from the fog would be circulated deep
into the earth where temperatures are cool then transferred up through
the cells and back down again. Arriving travelers and sand boarders
coming down from the top enter via the lowest tubes to the north and
south sides of the dune. The other tubes situated higher on dune allow
light to penetrate deep into the atrium space while also circulating hot
air outward keeping the interior cool even when the temperature outside
exceeds one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. The gale force winds
are harnessed by two seventy five foot diameter turbine blades while a
nearby solar field provides all the energy the colony could ever need.