Title: Bee Sanctuary
Location of Proejct: Manhattan, NY
Project Completion Date: 05/03/2022
Firm Name:

Short Description: Humans are dependent on plants for many aspects of life starting from what we eat to the shelter we build and cloth that we wear. These plants are dependent on pollination for survival and growth. One of the most known pollinators are bees. But these species are endangered around the world due to manmade problems like pesticides, pathogens, climate change, habitat loss and introduction of nonnative species.
In this project attention is given to bumble bees at the aim of creating a thriving environment. A bio façade that will provide food, nesting, and habitat for bumble bees of New York.

Architect's Statement: Due increase in climate change and use of pesticides the number of bumblebees around the world has been declining for decades. This is mostly noticeable in Northern America, South America, and Europe. For example, American bumblebee, a species responsible for pollination of many important crops like tomatoes and wild crops, has completely vanished from eight states in the US and is in 99% decline in New York state. Climate change has played a big role in the extinction of these species. As the temperature gets higher it becomes more unsuitable for bumblebees to survive or escape by flying out of the hot zones. Another reason is the use of pesticides, which North America has the highest amount per hector per year compared to the rest of the world. Pesticides affect every aspect of the bumblebee’s life like forging and nesting; the greatest impact being mortality. Other reasons are disease and the introduction of non-native specious.
Bumblebees need our attention because 85% of plants around the world are dependent on bees. Out of the one hundred crops that human eats seventy of them are dependent on all bee pollination. As human we eat around one ton of food a year which is 166 pounds a month, 5.5 pounds a day equaling to eighty-eight bytes, out of which twenty-nine bytes are dependent on bees.
The project site is 63 Madison Ave., New York, a 15-story building built in 1961. This building and its surrounding have low vegetation coverage compared to Manhattan as a whole. The project proposes to provide an environment that will provide food and nesting habitat that is free of pesticides and pathogens with controlled temperature.
Before the design process the behavior and environmental requirements of 6 bumble bees (American, Northern Amber, Rusty-patched, Yellow, Yellow banded and Ashton’s Cuckoo bumblebees) was studied. Extensive research on their life cycle, forging habits, temperature and light requirements, and flying patterns was conducted.
Abstracted patterns of the eyes of bumblebee were used as design inspiration resulting in the rhomboid like shape. The façade is designed to cover the building like avail from three sides. The rhomboid like structure with a thickness of 12 inches has a vertical vegetation that is supported by an exoskeleton. The green wall has a pivot at the end of the wall that would allow it to rotate based on the direction of the sun which will allow for maximum utilization of the sunlight.
The South facing façade will provide the main forging environment with plants specifically selected for this species listed above as it is the side that gets the most sun. The West facing façade will also provide similar function blending into the north and south side. North side façade has the extended green area so people on the other side can also enjoy the green space. Even though the main façade for the bumblebees is the South facing façade the north façade will also have vegetations that are accessible to the bees. This part of the façade can be used as a community garden where planting plants that are pollinated by the bumblebees like tomatoes and berries could be possible.
Bumble bees require a nesting environment that is partially or fully shaded on the ground. For this reason, a mound like nesting cover with a look of pilled dirt is designed to provide full shade for the hive on the roof of the building. The roof would also provide vegetation for the queen bumblebee to adjust her body temperature when coming out of hibernation. Interior of the hive will have cameras to allow monitoring of the activities of the bees at different stage. The video from these cameras will be projected on screens in various locations on the façade to be used for education purpose.
Another important feature of the façade is the viewing tower which is designed to provide a playful area for children so they can be engaged while they are learning about bumblebees. This viewing tower would also allow people with fear of bees to come and interact without having to be close to them.
The design is in service of the bumblebees starting from the egg stage to adult. The three stages of the bumblebees (egg, lava, and pupa) would be on the roof and adult bumble bees would nest and venture out to forge on the façade, and the cycle continues.
After studying the patterns of bumblebee movements, it was projected on this site to see how far they will go from the origin. This led to a proposal to bring other buildings surrounding the site to be part of the design. The roofs and facades of other buildings in the range of the flight distance can be part of this big conservation movement through implementing their own green design.