Borneo Rainforest Lodge

Category: Borneo Rainforest Lodge

2 April, 2010

Sungai Ulu Danum Research Station

Photos by Ian Hall and Serena Lamb

The forest around Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL) is home to an extraordinarily high density of orang-utans. More than 30 individuals are being monitored in a research program lead by the Wildlife Research Center (WRC) of Kyoto University. Wild orang-utans are very good for nature tourism and I reckon that during a three night stay at the Lodge there is an even chance of seeing at least one of those fellas.

The WRC research program now has a new purpose built home at BRL thanks to collaboration between Yayasan Sabah, University Malaysia Sabah and Kyoto University. The Sungai Ulu Danum Research Station was opened recently by Dr Waidi Sinun, director of the Conservation and Environmental Management division of Yayasan Sabah.

Nature tourism and ecological research do not always sit happily together. This is why the Danum Valley Conservation Area Management Plan separates researchers at the Danum Valley Field Centre from tourists at BRL, the fear being that tourists may scare away animals under study or trample research plots.

In fact far from scaring away animals, the benign presence of tourists at BRL has resulted in the animals becoming habituated to people. You can now regularly see bornean gibbons, red leaf monkeys, crested fireback pheasants, dwarf kingfishers, mouse deer, sambar deer, clouded leopard, flying lemur and of course orang utan, all without stepping off your balcony.

If you’re not lucky enough to see an orang-utan from the balcony then the presence of the research program means that someone knows where the orang-utans are most of the time. The researchers are studying the ecology and behaviour of orang-utans without direct intervention. In other words the apes are not captured or collared; data is gathered by following them and observing their behaviour and collecting any samples that they might drop.

The presence of tourists does not interrupt this process and it means that more people get to see ecological science at work and learn about this great ape first hand in its forest home. Arkitrek is proud to have designed the research station and hopes that the researchers and research assistants will be comfortable there for the duration of their field work.

22 March, 2010

Little & Large of the Orchid World

Text by Ian Hall
Photos by Ian Hall, Serena Lamb and Eyen Khoo

Horticulturalist and orchid expert Tony Lamb has thrown down the gauntlet to describe the world’s largest orchid. The Tiger Orchid, Grammatophyllum speciosum is the undisputed king of the orchid world but where is the largest specimen to be found in the wild? The question was raised during a walk along the access road to Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL) in the Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah.

The orchid that caused Tony to stop in his tracks was so big that despite walking past it every day I had not even realised that it was an orchid. There is only so much you can teach yourself about the countless species in the web of life of a tropical rainforest. It as a treat to be in the company of Tony Lamb and Anthea Phillipps who knew far more than me.

We were at BRL to assess the nature interpretive information that is presented to guests not lucky enough to have such knowledgeable guides. Through audio visual and textual media we can give an insight into the wonders of plant / animal interactions and other ecosystem functions, plus of course trivia such as; how big is the world’s largest orchid?

To answer this question Tony recruited some tree climbing botanists from the Sabah Forestry Department to physically measure the BRL Tiger Orchid. At 30m above the ground this was no easy task but climber Jeisin Jumian counted 90 live pseudobulbs up to 3.3m in length with leaves extending a further 0.3m.

Back at the Lodge we watched one of the plant/animal interactions for which BRL is famous. An old male orang-utan munching tarap fruit next to the veranda. All the guests were ecstatic to see a wild orang utan so close and after lively debate Tony and Anthea agreed on the species of tarap being eated as Artocarpus rigidans.

No trip to BRL would be complete without traversing the canopy walkway suspended 20m above ground between emergent dipterocarp and mengaris trees. The walkway is at barely half the height of these enormous trees but sensationally within the rainforest canopy.

Canopy science is at the frontline of ecological research both because it is hard to get to and because this is where most of the primary productivity of the rainforest occurs. Last year a new species of bird was described from the BRL canopy walkway. That one of the most intensely observed bits of canopy in Sabah can still yield new vertebrate species hints at how much there is still to learn.

Hot on the heels of canopy science is canopy tourism. Being in the canopy is a dramatic experience that allows your imagination to take flight. It is a vertical super natural world where the trees provide a structure to be inhabited by plant families like ginger, pandanus, lichopodium, aeroids, ferns, orchids, mosses and the animals that they are interdependent with.

To recognise and know the names of some of these living things allows us to talk about them and share our observations. This becomes knowledge which if it can be imparted to tourists will greatly enhance their experience. After all, one of the main points of travel is so that you can go back home and brag about what you have seen and done.

On the last platform of the canopy walkway, Tony paused to pick up what I thought was just a leaf. It turned out to be an entire plant fallen from the canopy, an orchid of unknown species hardly bigger than a thumb nail and with a flower stalk barely 40mm long, bearing flowers 1mm in diameter. A contender for world’s smallest orchid he reckoned.

By this stage my mind could cope with no more latin names so we retired to the bar where I was very pleased to hear Tony ordering a double gin. ‘For scientific purposes’ he winked and poured it into a specimen jar containing the tiny orchid.

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2 February, 2010

The Tower to The Memory of a Tree

Text and images by Sarah Greenlees

Starting as an epiphyte and often ending up as freestanding trees, strangler figs (genus ficus, subgenus urostigma) are dynamic and dramatic members of the forest structure, they can also be surprisingly architectural.

Degrees of Enclosure

Though all the forest provides shelter in some capacity, figs provide it in a very literal, enclosing fashion, at a series of scales. On the smallest scale, protective shells lined with spongy material and flowers provide shelter for tiny gall wasps. These fig syconia later develop into fruit. Here the female wasp will die after laying her larvae, but they also provide a safe place for larvae to develop, for wasp mating to take place and finally, for safe passage into the surrounding environment. They are a place of rest and a place of rebirth. At the large scale, the fig is an organic tower block providing shelter for pythons, frogs, geckos and birds. Almost in the manner of Ian Banks’ ‘The Bridge’ all sorts of animals live between the structure at different levels.

Compound Structures

This structure of the strangler figs is clearly legible – in architectural jargon it could be called celebrated. It occurs out of a sequence of growth. In common seed dispersal tradition, animals deposit seeds in their droppings in the branches of other trees. Making rapid development as an epiphyte, the fig grows and sends down aerial roots to the forest floor becoming a hemi-epiphyte (1).

Winding around the host tree and ascending back up to the heights of the canopy – a hemi-epiphyte becomes a parasite (2). The vines are strong, resilient and unassailable and their resultant patterns are a composition of elements in compression and tension. Primary roots of thick circular section become flying buttress when in filled with slender walls at the base. As these buttresses meet the centralized structure, thinner lines traverse the intermediary spaces, stretched between the primary elements in tension. Triangulated compound beams of soft wood are created that are always developing; continually being added to. In a dynamic and dramatic display over time the host tree is finally broken in several places, crushed, twisted and sometimes left hanging in a cathedral like arrangement of root columns.

Complex Symbiotics

The fig tree and the gall wasp survive by means of a unique symbiotic relationship. In return for the protective, flower lined shell; the female gall wasps are the sole pollinator for the figs. The relationship relies on a range of flowers of different lengths to match the anatomy of the wasp. As the wasp larvae develop within 3 – 20 days and the adults only live for a couple of days, so the symbiosis also relies on either the fig tree having syconia at different stages of development, or on there being a high population of figs of the same species in a given area. In an astounding display of biodiversity there are, in most cases, specific species of wasps for specific species of figs. This prevents cross-pollination and allows numerous fig species to grow together, sometimes up to 70 species in close proximity. The advantages of such ‘species packing’ in a forest where many of the animals may at some time be dependent on figs are clear. The system is a careful balance of chemical precision and statistical probability.

Of course, a similar relationship exists between man and his environment. Being surrounded by such a sensitive landscape as the Danum rainforest makes this all the more apparent. The revenue that Borneo Rainforest Lodge generates makes it imperative to the survival of the forest, and the forest is the reason for the lodge’s existence. How such a relationship develops is of keen interest. As the rainforest continues to create business for the lodge, how will the lodge further the conservation of the forest? Already their efforts to overhaul the typical practices of the hospitality industry, to green practices are admirable. And their continued search for new ways to promote conservation are very positive. But there is a long way to go and it requires passionate management.

Echoing the Past

At different instances in the design at BRL references are made to the organic weave of the fig vine within a clear and ordered structure. However, the visibly progressive structure of the fig tree is a reminder that the environment is a live, ever-changing one. Our buildings will fit in to the landscape and grow with it. Traces they leave behind have the potential to highlight the ever-changing landscape. Already there are signs of man’s intervention with nature – the boardwalk bends around the trees and when these fall their memory is marked by the path of the structure. A palimpsest of growth develops.

This reflects possibly the most poetic element of the fig tree development Once the fig is truly established as a freestanding tree and when the host tree has entirely disappeared the fig tree becomes a hollow tower with foot holes to climb.

It is an almost accessible starting point for a journey through the canopy. An ascent to the sky seems possible, if it weren’t for the fear of cobras, it is as tangible as the taste of wet soil in the air. The view from the top through the leaves and out across the canopy must be incredible. You can imagine the climb up being frequented by glimpses through the structure and then as you reach the top – the first clear view, like looking out over a parapet of a tower, straining to see before you’ve quite reached. And then to sit and look out. To be in a small, enclosed, protected space with an immense vista before you. Bacchelard’s attic pales into insignificance.

At the end of the fig tree’s story is a strong, tall structure of an ex epiphyte. But what is also left standing is the imprint of a tree, a hollow space that echoes of the past. A dark resting place of forest spirits, a hot and humid miasma, a shelter for geckos and bats, bees and pythons; a glimpse of the sky reaching high through a top heavy mass of tiny delicate pin prick leaves. It is the negative space of a trace of the past- the tree that was. Here is the tower to the memory of a tree.

Footnotes
(1) In a paper published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia, Schmidt and Tracey hypothesized that this change in behavior is brought about by a change in nutrient levels.
(2)Though called strangler figs, it is often not the cause of death to the tree. Rather, it is often the rapid grown of leaves and roots as the host loses the competition for light and nutrients. In the process of strangulation, the xylem and phloem layers around the outside of the host trunk are closed off in the ever-increasing pressure of the fig growth.

References:
SCHMIDT Susanne ; TRACEY Dieter P. ; Adaptations of strangler figs to life in the rainforest canopy; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Collingwood, AUSTRALIE (2002) (Revue)

Website References:
Figweb; Iziko Museums of Cape Town accessed on 23 Jan 10
The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation assessed on 23 Jan 10
Stranglers and Banyans accessed on 23 Jan 10
zipcodezoo accessed on 23 Jan 10
Mongabay

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10 January, 2010

BRL Renovation Update

By Ian Hall

Renovation of the main building at Borneo Rainforest Lodge is the biggest thing in Arkitrek’s short history. With the client spending two million ringgit on construction alone (not including fit out) the pressure has been and still is considerable.

Our relationship with both Borneo Rainforest Lodge and the contractor Mee San has been gradually building up to this over the last three years. It started with the renovation of 10 rooms in 2007, we added 6 more rooms in 2008 and a further 8 early last year.

Looking back on the process I see a progression both in our design repertoire, the client’s willingness to experiment and the contractors’ understanding that sometimes moy liang (less nice) is ho liang (very nice).

The highpoint of this process is undoubtedly the grandly named Twin Deluxe Riverview Chalet. The design concept proposed by the client of linking two existing chalets with a covered deck to form a suite has become our poster child.

Photo by Calvin Ng

Having said that, writing this as I am now, in one of the very first chalets to be renovated I still profess a great fondness for their small-but-perfectly-formed-ness. And of course because they’re closer to the bar.

During my last site visit before the Christmas holiday the main lodge building still resembled a demolition site . Now it resembles a construction site and walking around this evening I felt a little surge of ‘wow, we might actually pull this off’.

The kitchen and bar equipment is installed and the ergonomics feel right (see below for a panorama viewpoint from the bar). The partially closed atrium looks better proportioned and awaits the feature lights that our specialist designer has come up with. The reception area integrates

The atrium is also integrated with the new reception area and standing in the heart of the building I’m beginning to see how the flow between inside and out and between back of house and front is coming together. This difficult to describe, movement of energy, was one of the most conspicuous shortcomings of the original design.

Fixing this and tarting up the finishes are the main objectives of the renovation. In practice this means opening up the perimeter to allow light in and views out plus sorting out the arrival sequence and grouping complimentary functions together.

There are three more weeks before the lodge reopens and a lot of hard work to be done before then.

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11 December, 2009

Architecture In Sabah

A new coffee table book is out on the subject of ‘Architecture in Sabah, Resorts and Hotels’. Arkitrek is very chuffed to have our work at Borneo Rainforest Lodge featured in a multiple page spread. Thanks to Author Richard Nelson Sokial for the namecheck and complimentary words and pictures. All that assiduous buttering up obviously didn’t go unnoticed.

Arriving in Sabah for the first time nearly six years ago, my first impression of the architecture was monotypic concrete shoplots and suburban houses that seemed to aspire to a 1980’s TV set from America. In a part of the world where the excruciatingly trendy bali style, magnificent temples and crumbling colonial urbanism rule the roost, it takes a while to tune into demure local culture.

Since I first met him, Richard has been eloquantly and pursuasively banging the drum for Sabah architectural heritage. He has been fervently cataloging what remains of vernacular architecture before it is lost and tirelessly teaching Sabahans to value their own building culture.

‘Architecture in Sabah, Resorts and Hotels’ is not an obvious choice of reference book for international architectural scholars. It’s strength is in celebrating what is best in Sabah and building local confidence. In this respect I think it will become a benchmark book (it’s certainly the first of its kind) and will help to encourage subjects for a follow up book.

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The best place to read about the book and other Sabah architectural heritage stories is on Richard’s own blog

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