Generative Structures Inspired by Country

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A female Bunya cone — the design inspiration.
The Big Bunya — a tower inspired by the anatomy of the Bunya cone
The Bunya Bridge
The Research Centre
Public Lecture hall

Harlin Bunya Grove

Brisbane Valley Highway, Harlin, QLD | 2022 | 1.4 ha

Harlin Bunya Grove proposes a large-scale agroforestry and horticultural infrastructure along Ivory Creek — a flood-shaped landscape threaded by the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. Through generative architectural interventions, including a research centre, lecture hall, lookout tower, and bridge, the project fuses timber cultivation, ecological restoration, and civic gathering.

 

Concept

Drawing from the historic Bunya nut pilgrimage that once moved through this landscape, the design abstracts the cone’s morphology into a modular structural system capable of transforming across diverse topologies.

Rather than relying on algorithmic automation, the system unfolds through hands-on, iterative rule-based exploration. Geometric principles derived from the cone are translated into adaptable architectural forms responsive to site conditions, climate, and programmatic demands.

Morphological development

Through extraction, repetition, rotation, scaling, and sectional division, a single botanical origin generates a modular seed system and four spatial typologies.

Modular Seed

The cone’s phyllotaxis and seed curvature inform a singular structural module, establishing a repeatable seed element as the system’s formal foundation.​

The phyllotactic organisation of the female Bunya cone is synthesised with the seed’s curvature.
Segmented modular seed identifies structural ribs and a central roofing zone for lightweight enclosure. The module is explored in isolation and in aggregation, establishing the geometric logic that underpins the larger system.

Host Surface

The system is realised through controlled geometric transformations derived from the Bunya cone, establishing the host surface for modular aggregation.

Tower

The oval volumetric form of the cone becomes a host surface for the tower.

Bridge

The geometry of the Bunya cone is sectioned into a half-cylinder, reoriented to site conditions, and extended longitudinally to accommodate spatial requirements, generating the bridge canopy.

Research Centre

A half-cone volume is extracted, reoriented and resized to respond to site and program.

Public Lecture and Community Hall

A quarter-cone volume is extracted, reoriented to site conditions and scaled into a more civic proportion for gathering space.

Rule- Based Generative System

The project operates through four rules to generate four architectural typologies: a bridge, tower, research centre, and community hall.

Rule 1 — Seed
Constant modular unit derived from Bunya morphology.

Rule 2 — Host Surface
Surface derived from Bunya volumetric and sectional logic, responsive to site and program.

Rule 3 — Surface Aggregation
The seed is distributed across the host surface through controlled variations in scale, density, and orientation, informed by structural logic.

Rule 4 — Contextual Adaptation
Structural ribs and infill are adjusted to enable terrain negotiation and environmental performance.

 

DNA Strip

Seed → Host Surface →  Surface Aggregation →  Contextual adaptation

 

Stage 01- The Bridge

The infill layer is selectively opened to support ventilation, modulate light, and enable seasonal flood resilience through controlled permeability.

Stage 02 — The Tower

All infill panels are half-open to allow views while regulating airflow and daylight, maintaining environmental protection.

Stage 03 — The Research Centre

The form is further adjusted to align with the site’s topography, allowing the aggregated modular seed to negotiate the slope while maintaining structural continuity.

Stage 04 — The Public Lecture and Community Hall

A more intimate gathering space defined by diffused light and structural openness.

System Resolution

The modular seed is constructed from a single curved glulam member connected by steel plate and bolts, enabling structural aggregation. The resulting voids accommodate interchangeable roof membranes such as ETFE, bird netting, or fibreglass.

For the bridge canopy, moulded recyclable, hail-resistant polycarbonate panels are detailed with snap-locking seams and integrated drainage channels. The system provides filtered daylight, rain protection, durability, and replaceable panels, while allowing selective opening to support ventilation and flood permeability.

Detail of modular seeds at pre-bent state, prior to curvature.
Exploded isometric of the modular seed.
Bridge roof modular seed installation (bent state), showing colour-coded sequencing of shingled polycarbonate panels.

Flat Prototype for Assembly Testing

A prototype was fabricated in planar laminated plywood sections to test joint tolerances, connection logic, and assembly sequencing.

Prototype constructed in laminated plywood to simulate curved glulam geometry.
Prototype of a single modular seed element, testing form and assembly.

The Bunya Bridge

The bridge uses a three-hinged arch configuration to span the creek without intrusive piling. It frames key views and provides a sheltered passage for cyclists, pedestrians, farm animals, and emergency vehicles. Designed to accommodate floodwaters, it transfers loads through the arch network to robust concrete abutments.

The bridge reconnects communities and landscapes across the creek, standing as a living tribute to the heritage-listed fallen Walter Taylor Bridge, whose memory continues to shape the town’s identity.

The Bridge expressing the structural system in dialogue with the existing Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, revealing the human-scale experience beneath the canopy.
Bridge cross-section with specifications developed in collaboration with our engineering student partners.
Early bridge concept with vertical supports, later developed into a network of arches — tested with an engineering team using a spaghetti pasta prototype.

The ‘BIG’ Bunya Cone Tower

Inspired by Australia’s tradition of oversized roadside landmarks, the tower transforms the geometry of the bunya cone into a monumental public lookout. The spatial organisation draws from the cross-section of a female bunya cone—where a central core anchors seed pods that spiral outward—reinterpreted here as ramps and viewing platforms rising through the tower.

Positioned at the highest point of the site, the structure also harvests rainwater for landscape irrigation and emergency fire response.

 

A view from the research centre

Interior Experience

A spiralling circulation route rises through the timber lattice, connecting a sequence of viewing platforms within the tower. A 30-metre slide offers visitors a playful descent back to the ground.

Structural Framework

Sixteen glulam columns form the structural core supporting the spiral ramp and modular enclosure. Together they create a lightweight lattice that filters daylight while framing views across the surrounding landscape.

The Research Centre

The research centre combines laboratories, offices, maintenance areas, water storage, and a canopy-height nursery for seedlings, saplings, and five-year test trees, alongside large open growing plots. The modular canopy structure uses interchangeable roof membranes to regulate light, ventilation, and environmental exposure. This system creates an adaptable research environment capable of supporting evolving ecological studies and changing climatic conditions

The Site

The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail is re-routed to weave through a sequence of structures and landscapes—passing the tower, the public lecture  and community hall, the research centre, and the bridge—transforming the trail into a curated journey. As it threads across terraces, creek edges, and areas of restored vegetation, the trail becomes a generative spine for renewal, deepening the relationship between architecture, Country, and the evolving landscape.

Proposed site development
Proposed site development

Reflection

Harlin Bunya Grove reshaped how I understand generative design. It became less about computational form-making and more about listening — allowing Country, growth, and pilgrimage to guide the architecture.

Rather than imposing a design, I learned to respond to the site’s landscape, ecology, and stories. The re-routed rail trail, bridge, tower, and research centre emerged through this dialogue, shaped by movement, heritage, and the natural logic of the place.

Collaborating with engineering students grounded the work further. Through prototyping and structural testing, I saw how ideas translate into material reality. The process strengthened my appreciation of clarity, structure, and shared responsibility.

This project affirmed for me that designing with Country is about creating systems that evolve — places that support renewal and remain open to change. It is a continuous relationship rather than a fixed outcome.

If given the opportunity to continue developing the project, I would explore algorithmic generation of the timber structure, and further test its environmental performance. 

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