Canopy Walk Sonian Forest
Year: 2019 Location: Hoeilaart, Sonian Forest, Belgium Type: Visitor Center + canopy walk Client: Province of Flanders Collaborator(s): Bollinger + Grohmann ZT GmbH, KOSSMANN DE JONG, LOLA LAndscape Design team: Marieke Kums, Marlene Scheuringer , Mikel Marin, Gautam Tanwar, Amelie Mantovani, Marina Bruno, Hey-mi Lee Images: Studio MAKS Awards: 1st prize international competition
Vulnerable natural areas worldwide are under growing pressure from climate change, pollution, resource depletion and urbanisation. The Sonian Forest therefore requires careful protection for future generations. Its UNESCO World Heritage status underlines both its value and the urgency of safeguarding it.
Groenendaal brings together many of the Sonian Forest’s ecotopes and historical layers in a concentrated form. Strengthening its role as the main visitor gateway can make these qualities more accessible while reducing pressure on more sensitive parts of the forest.
Over time, Groenendaal has evolved from a natural landscape into a place of spirituality, leisure for the nobility (4), and a gateway linked to the World Exhibition. These successive histories have left visible traces across the site. The challenge is to create a clear and recognisable identity by revealing and activating the site’s existing qualities. New routes, uses and orientation tools should help visitors experience the forest more deeply and make what is normally hidden, subtle or difficult to understand more tangible.
Our proposal places the relationship between people and nature at its centre. Through an immersive scenography, visitors are invited to experience the forest through discovery, wonder and insight rather than conventional education.
A playful elevated walkway allows visitors to move through the forest while engaging with its sounds, smells, textures and changing atmospheres. The landscape design explores the relationship between natural environments and the site’s cultural landscape, creating new ways to experience both.
The proposal brings together the visitor centre, elevated walkway and priory site as one integrated spatial and scenographic experience.