One Oak Tree
52°22'47.2"N 2°21'48.5"W
100 years ago, coppicing ceased at the Wyre Forest leading to a century of poor forest maintenance. What remains is a monoculture of Oak trees which, by the timber industry’s standards, is of poor quality due to the complex geometries of the branches that are difficult to standardise or mill. The thesis aims to explore the material output of a single Oak tree’s complex canopy through the construction of a library with accommodation for a writer in residence. Its location and form aims to make use of and make legible the unique sunlight forms that are enabled through felling the tree. It does this through a tensegrity structure which exhibits the unique character of the canopy branches, makes legible the sunlight form and allows the branches to be used as a piece of furniture.
3D scanning technology was used to obtain a complete digital model of the tree. Rhino and Grasshopper softwares were then used to analyse the tree to reveal information about the tree that would be difficult to obtain without the digital model. A complete mapping of the tree also enabled the study of the complex geometries and structural capability of its canopy branches.
Two sunlight forms are “drawn” with either end of the branches. The branches are arranged in a tensegrity structural arrangement which also enabled suitable branches to be used as furniture such as a desk, bed or handrail. Smaller, secondary branches are then arranged around these moments of inhabitation to increase safety, intimacy and variety of spaces found within the structure.
