Danish architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has designed an elevated circular hotel room called the Biosphere that is surrounded by 340 birdhouses.
The birdhouses, which are part of the Treehotel complex in Swedish Lapland, are built into the room’s circular façade and aim to help halt the decline of birds in surrounding woods.
The 34 sq m Biosphere will contain a roof terrace and a sauna, and will offer views of the treetops.
Guests can enter it using a suspended bridge that connects the ground to the top of the trees.
BIG worked in conjunction with Treehotel and Swedish ornithologist Ulf Öhman on the project.
Bjarke Ingels, BIG’s founder, said: “I got to spend a few days and nights in some of the Treehotel rooms right before the pandemic, and left with a sense of rejuvenation from complete immersion into nature. I couldn’t help wondering if there was a way to take the immersion one step further – and almost instantly the idea of inviting not only the human visitors but also the resident bird and bat population to cohabit a spherical swarm of nests came to life.
“After our first conversations with Ulf Öhman from Norrbotten Ornithological Association we were relieved to learn that birds don’t drop where they nest – so there is hope for the glass to remain clear within this cloud of aviary architecture.”
Visitors will be able to book Biosphere starting in May 2022.
