Third Place Winner
The Forest Fortress: Learning from The Wombat
Design by
Sol Bae & Hyewon Kim
Juror’s Comment:
Powerful biomimetic concept with strong earth-sheltered thermal logic and multi-hazard resilience (fire, heat, drought).
Work on:
Address daylighting, ventilation quality, and psychological comfort of underground living; clarify constructability.
Sol Bae & Hyewon Kim
Sol Bae and Hyewon Kim believe that architecture goes beyond merely creating functional spaces; it is an act of taking responsibility for social and environmental change. Drawing inspiration from the wisdom of nature and the inherent materiality of elements, they explore sustainable spaces that coexist harmoniously with the environment. Ultimately, they strive to present responsible architecture that connects people and firmly safeguards our everyday lives.
Celebrating Creativity & Vision
Winner’s Spotlight: An Exclusive Interview
Discover the story behind the victory — from concept to creation.
1. Concept & Vision
This project is an earth-sheltered housing model inspired by the wombat burrows that served as a vital refuge for countless wild animals during the Australian bushfires. Amidst climate uncertainty, we sought to achieve the restoration of everyday life through an approach deeply rooted in nature's own resilience.
2. Climate Adaptation Strategy
As a sustainable housing system, The Forest Fortress adopts two core strategies to respond to complex crises such as bushfires, heatwaves, droughts, and floods. The first is an earth-sheltered Thermal Regulation system that utilizes the soil's thermal inertia. By effectively blocking external flames and extreme heat, it maintains a constant indoor temperature, creating a highly efficient living environment that minimizes energy consumption. The second is a massive Water Catchment system, adapted from the streamlined structure of wombat burrows. This design allows the structure to continuously collect and purify rainwater for daily use, ensuring self-sufficiency during droughts. During heavy rainfall, it functions as an active infrastructure that temporarily holds large volumes of water, protecting the housing units and the surrounding site from flooding.
3. Resilience as Regeneration
Moving beyond mere survival and defense, this project aims for everyday ecological regeneration. The building's integrated rainwater storage system hydrates both the community and the surrounding nature even during dry seasons. Furthermore, its organic residential structure facilitates resource sharing, preventing isolation during disasters and building strong social solidarity. Through this design approach, we seek to elevate the concept of resilience from simple physical survival to a sustainable housing community that ensures neighborly cohesion and the long-term well-being of its residents.
4. Site & Context Response
This project is grounded in a speculative future scenario where complex, extreme climate events have become the daily norm. To survive amidst relentless climate change, we needed a new architectural typology capable of responding flexibly to multiple concurrent threats, rather than a single disaster. We found our solution in the wombat burrow, which served as a refuge for numerous animals during severe bushfires. By combining the heat-blocking wisdom of these burrows with architectural forms designed to manage other climate extremes (such as floods and droughts), we have created a multi-purpose, climate-adaptive shelter.
5. Materiality & Low-Carbon Innovation
We actively utilized the inherent thermal inertia and insulation properties of earth as a primary building material. Additionally, we integrated an architectural form that allows the housing model itself to directly harvest rainwater. Instead of relying entirely on high-tech mechanical systems or external energy and water infrastructure, this approach enables natural temperature regulation and a self-sufficient water supply. This eco-friendly design goes beyond merely reducing carbon emissions; it presents a practical, active, and highly effective low-carbon residential strategy.
6. Social & Community Impact
When extreme climate disasters paralyze a city's external infrastructure, this project acts as a powerful and innovative shield, granting residents the self-sufficiency to avoid isolation and life-threatening conditions. Moving beyond simply protecting individuals in isolation, we arranged public spaces and social programs within the interstitial spaces connecting the residential units. This strengthens everyday community bonds during normal times and provides vital physical and psychological connections during disasters. Ultimately, the architecture itself becomes a robust social safety net, empowering neighbors to share resources and care for one another in times of crisis.
7. Scalability & Future Adaptability
This project is designed as a modular housing prototype, independent of any specific terrain. While maintaining the core principles of earth-sheltered construction, the depth of the burrows, the scale of the water catchment systems, and the connections between units can be flexibly adjusted based on a site's specific climate intensity and topographical conditions. It serves as a universal, adaptable solution that can be readily replicated and scaled across diverse climate-vulnerable regions globally. Furthermore, it possesses the flexibility to expand its tunnel networks or reconfigure interior spaces to accommodate shifting family dynamics or community growth, ensuring active adaptation to future needs.
8. Message for the Future
We wish to convey the message that architecture in the era of the climate crisis must not be a disconnected structure that fights against nature, but rather a new residential model that coexists with the earth. Through this housing system, we want to demonstrate that true resilience stems from our connection to nature. It is our hope that The Forest Fortress will serve as a tangible alternative that firmly maintains daily life and allows us to live safely in harmony with nature.
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