Nature-friendly starter home for house martin
Martin is a prefab 3D-printed nest for the house martin (Delichon urbicum). It is a starter home; The bird builds the next nest itself. Perfect for areas that have just been renovated or are now being managed in a nature-inclusive manner.
Martin is concrete-free, lightweight and easy to hang. The nest box is made from circular and biobased raw materials. The name ‘Martin’ is based on house martin(s), besides the English translation also a favorite band from the nineties.
Birdwatch The Netherlands
Birdwatch The Netherlands (Vogelbescherming) helped to improve the first prototype. Timo Roeke (Birdwatch NL): “We are very interested in the results in the breeding season. Circular biobased construction is also the future for nature-inclusive construction.” Omlab will conduct field research in Amsterdam and Gelderland in 2023.
Build nature-inclusive
Why these nest boxes? The built environment – including works of art and modern buildings – is usually inaccessible and too tidy. Birds find no shelter there and there is no food or nesting material nearby. Build a nest there? They’ll watch out.
Hang up nests and invite the birds to hatch. Meanwhile, you manage nature, including the site or building. Martin quickly shows whether it works. Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine.
Use every swallow’s nest as a blueprint for nature inclusion.
- Hang up the nest
- Test whether the swallows build the next nest themselves
- Adjust if necessary your management plan
Do you need advice for nature-inclusive management? Then we recommend: Faunest, architect voor de dieren. Faunest’s director Jennifer de Jonge was the first to advise Omlab to ‘deconcrete’ nest boxes. That term and mission is hers.
Faunest not only makes the ecological plans. Faunest itself climbs the ladder to make buildings and grounds nature-inclusive for animals and humans.
Omlab’s nest box(es) are part of the design research ‘Building biodiversity‘:
How can biodegradable materials for construction and infrastructure benefit (urban) biodiversity?
Omlab is working on nature friendly fauna modules and other prototypes in collaboration with businesses and education.
Design & materials
The swallow nest box is environmentally friendly and made without (wood) concrete, glue or nails. The biodegradable 3D printing material consists of supercircular raw materials from drinking and sewage treatment (calcite, Kaumera and cellulose from flushed toilet paper). At the end of life, the emission-free material provides food for the soil.
The cabinet is made of Biopanel, an innovative plant-based plastic with a deposit.
Lees ook
Modular by nature, architecture for insects, birds and other city dwellers. The modules are part of the green facade pilot of architecture firm MVRDV.
