Protective seed pods inform timber forest pavilion by Walden Studio

The casings of woodland seeds such as chestnuts and pinecones informed the openable facade of this pod-like pavilion in the Netherlands, designed by local architecture practice Walden Studio.

Named Bolster after the Dutch term de bolster, meaning a husk or shell, the timber pavilion was designed and built by Walden Studio in Trompenburg Arboretum near Rotterdam for an educational urban food forest called Voedselbos De Overtuin.

Housed within the structure's pod-like form is storage for tools, a sink, a compostable toilet and benches. All of these functions are concealed behind timber panels that open upwards to double as canopies for shelter in the small clearing.

"We looked at protective shells, husks and seed capsules – that idea of something that closes and then opens again, that protective character, was what intrigued us," Walden Studio founders Laurens van der Wal and Sebastiaan van Kints told Dezeen.

"When open, it welcomes visitors and offers shelter and basic functions that were lacking in this part of the forest," added Van der Wal and Van Kints.

"When closed, rather than reading as an empty building, it becomes a compact wooden object that withstands the elements and protects what is inside."

The structure and cladding of Bolster was made from oak sourced sustainably on the site, with the dimensions of these trees informing the size of the pavilion's angled trusses and cladding planks.

These trusses are visible at each corner of the pavilion's hexagonal plan and divide its different functional spaces. Each of these is covered by one of the external timber panels, which incorporate gas springs to allow them to be opened by hand.

"This simple action makes the pavilion feel less like a static object and more like something that changes with time, weather and daily use – almost like a flower opening towards the sun," said Van der Wal and Van Kints.

"It means that activities happen in the forest itself rather than inside a conventional building, maintaining contact with nature for anyone coming here to have a cup of tea or wash the harvest," they added.

Other elements of the pavilion were either salvaged or recycled, including floor beams made from discarded window frames, timber sheets from a fire-damaged construction site and a rooflight made using plastic from an old highway barrier.

Another woodland pavilion featured on Dezeen is Field Station, an open-air laboratory for ecological study that was made from foraged wood by students at the Architectural Association.

At Kew Gardens in London, Mizzi Studio recently created a mushroom-like pavilion with a translucent roof made using flax.

The photography is by Anna Odulinska.

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