04 · Bioreceptive concrete

Tornica.

Pavilion that weathers into the forest

Course: ID300 · Spatial design
Year: 2026

D5 render of the Tornica pavilion, a porous concrete shell planted with moss, on a forested ridge

A terraced pavilion on Tor Doone above Hogsback, under a porous concrete shell designed for moss and lichen to grow on.

Site

Tor Doone is a real hiking peak above Hogsback in the Eastern Cape. I built the terrain from ASTER elevation data, so the model sits on the actual hillside, true north and to scale.

Idea

The name joins tor, Gaelic for rocky peak, and formica, Latin for ant hill. The pavilion steps 21 m down the slope in terraces (arrival, viewing deck, lounge, market, communal braai and a gathering terrace) under one cellular shell. The Voronoi openings echo leaf venation and cracked earth, and the concrete is specified as bioreceptive, so the building greens over and grows into the forest edge.

Process

Modelled in Revit 2027 with the canopy generated in Dynamo (a Voronoi strut script I wrote and debugged), then rendered in D5. Precedents included BiotA Lab's bioreceptive concrete research and Al Bahar Towers' cellular screens.

Render of the gathering hub under the cellular canopy, a tree growing through the roof — The gathering hub: a tree grows up through the canopy.

Render of the viewing deck with seating under the Voronoi shell — Viewing deck.

Render of the canopy arching over the terraces — The shell arching over the terraces.

Hand sketches of the cellular canopy in plan and perspective — Early canopy sketches.

Screenshot of the Revit massing with the Voronoi perforations — Voronoi perforations on the Revit massing.

Concept board: 'Grown, not built', with sketches and the Revit model — Concept board.

Tornica poster: the pavilion above the Hogsback valley with the project statement — Poster.