The canopy of a eucalypt forest is a place of discovery. High up amongst the tree tops is a life of biodiversity about which so many of us know so little. We largely experience life from the ground. Tree climbers tell us of the insects, the birds, the lizards, the micro-organisms and their coexistence with tree bark, sap, leaves, branches, of the wind and the sunlight and the rain. A vast number of life forms and energetic elements coexist in a rich and biodiverse ecosystem.

Tree top scientist Dr Meg Lowman calls the unexplored wonderland of leaves, insects and birds the ‘8th continent’ stating that 50% of earth’s species live in the canopy.

The Bird Hide tower is a place from where to watch, to look and to see these creatures at eye level - an experience of life in the aerial canopy.

The design of this hybrid sculptural/architectural form is inspired by the messy linear quality of the Australian dry sclerophylll native forests - the bark that strips itself off the trees and falls in lines to create a cross hatched drawing in the spaces between tree trunks. This light, free form, vertical and linear quality characterises the design of the bird hide whose simple geometric steel structure is overlaid with organic eucalypt branches.