The Breathing Urban Forest – A Custom Lobby at Diega
Today we will showcase the latest iteration to come out of our Mechatronics (mechanical engineering + mechatronics) program with another beautiful collaboration alongside the talented designers at Jules Wilson Design Studio. Introducing the “Breathe Lounge” by Diega at Bosa South Tower, a sophisticated and styled entertaining space within the high-rise residential building in the center of downtown San Diego.
Together with JWDS, we employed our love for interactive architecture to create an immersive experience with undulating walnut and steel trees. The treetop installation operates by a custom app via electric actuator and reacts to sound causing the trees to sway and subtly change form as a true breathing forest does.
In addition to the app interface, our BASILE engineering team also installed a manual control box within the Breathe Lounge for a friendly operating procedure that any staff member could perform with ease.
A significant challenge our team encountered in the light process was the mechanism by which the lighting was connected in the guts of the tree. As the tree swayed, the connections would break apart and malfunction. Our expert install team tweaked the connections until the process was streamlined.
In addition to the mechatronic elements, we also built the hyper-modular furniture collection to populate the lounge space. JWDS wanted pieces that could be easily moved for flexible seating arrangements and special event accommodations. Walnut was the dominant wood with custom high-back curved couches upholstered in a warm golden velvet along with a coordinating coffee table with brass grommet detailing and a hexagonal base. The shape is celebrated throughout the lounge with a bar height communal table and swivel stools, which act as a modern collaborative workstation complete with power adaptors. Finally, a fixed walnut wet bar anchors the center of the lounge and is built into the industrial façade. Enjoy this video and follow along for more designs at @basile_studio.