NEST – Brooklyn Children’s Museum

NEST is an interactive sculptural playscape designed and built by Tri-Lox, located on the rooftop terrace at Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Inspired by the unique nests made by the baya weaver bird, NEST is made from reclaimed NYC water tower wood fashioned into a woven form made for play with a climbable exterior, circular hammock area, and permeable interior space for open and creative exploration.

Project Development

Weaving a Concept Together

We explored the Museum’s vast educational collection to inspire the design and came upon a series of incredible bird nests. One nest in particular, made by the baya weaver bird, offers an intricately woven form with rooms, tunnels, and multiple entries. We then transformed this concept into a climbable playscape that retains the natural materiality of the nest and tells a story of an iconic design in our vertical urban habitat – the NYC rooftop water tower.

The baya weaver nest’s organic form aligns with philosophies around creative and non-prescriptive play, leaving the experience open ended, offering new challenges to children as they grow, and bringing them back to the Museum to learn from its rotating exhibitions that expand upon its diverse collection.

Fabrication & Implementation

Modular & Parametric

Fabricated in-shop as a series of sections composed of molded wood slats within stainless steel frames, these modules join together to create an organic form with multi-dimensional interior and exterior spaces and experiences.

We put to use the reclaimed materials we’re known for, namely the rooftop water tower cedar from our Skyline collection, to create an organic form with parametric design tools paired with fine craftsmanship.

NEST is built exclusively with recycled or recyclable components and feature natural materials. Made for active use and outdoor exposure, components were made to be forgiving and durable, easily maintained and replaceable.

Tri-Lox Products

NYC Rooftop Special

Skyline Cedar – Natural
Using a custom profile developed specifically for climbing, we remilled our vintage Cedar water towers to give them a fresh, smooth surface. Finished for abrasion resistance and moisture protection while maintaining a natural look and feel, this Cedar is ready for heavy exterior use.

Final Project

Dynamic Playscape

With the shared priority of creating a community-representative space that can serve children at various ages and stages of development, NEST met the Museum’s priorities for a climbable and iconic play structure and pushed those design strategies even further to incorporate contemporary theories of play and child development.

Reintroducing the water tower wood to the rooftop in a different form, NEST completes a multi-year capital project on BCM’s 20,000 square foot rooftop. Within a footprint of 1,800 square feet, NEST complements the various elements on the rooftop as a new focal point and community asset, offering the Museum’s target visitors, children ages 2-8, as well as caregivers, a place to play, climb, and explore the nature around us, even in the urban environment.

“We were especially proud to work on this project with Tri-Lox. This sculpture has deep roots in our Brooklyn identity and community, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be sharing it with our Brooklyn kids”.
-Brooklyn Children’s Museum President & CEO Stephanie Hill Wilchfort