Butterfly Sanctuary

Project Example

Project Description

For this project, the goal was to create meditative space within an existing building. Kristin's idea for designing a meditative space started off with designing some type of memorial or cemetery to honor the deceased. That idea evolved into a butterfly sanctuary. This sanctuary is a quiet space with a walking path throughout it along with seating areas and private areas for meditation. The majority of the sanctuary is covered with butterfly attracting plants. Although this is mostly for the butterflies, this is also to make users feel like they're connected with nature during their meditative experience. Kristin's building design does include a lot of glass so, she would like the space to be located somewhere outside of the city where there are plenty of naturistic views.

Initial Research

For Kristin's initial research on meditative spaces, she went to what she thought is a relaxing space on campus at Ohio University. It's a small pond that is surrounded by a few benches. What she liked about the space is that it is kind of hidden. It's mostly surrounded by trees and it is away from the main walking paths. She found this to be a relaxing space because it has a pond, greenery, and breezy air. Another meditative space she went to was the pool at her apartment complex. She finds this to be a relaxing space when it's not too crowded. She found similar relaxing aspects here as she did at the pond. A large part that she took away from this research was that those have something to fixate on but, they also allow you not to think about it.

Pond on campus at Ohio University

Initial Ideation

Initial Floor plan Sketch	Initial Interior Sketch
Revised Floor Plan Sketch

Initial 3D Model Design

3D layout model in SketchUp

Material Selections

Material Selections Collage

The materials Kristin chose for the butterfly sanctuary are very neutral, the main color throughout the interior is white. She did this to ensure that the plants as well as the butterflies stand out themselves since they are the main attraction. She also chose to use mostly neutral colors because they are calming colors. Kristin thought if she included all of the colorful plants and butterflies with colorful material selections, it would be too distracting. This distraction would make it harder for users to focus on why they are actually at the butterfly sanctuary, which is to meditate.

1. White Subway Tile

2. Green Transparent Glass

3. Steel

4. White Pebbles

5. Turquoise Glass

6. White Synthetic Material

7. Grey Transparent Glass

8. Black Mesh

9. Travertine

10. Blue Glass