Shelter in the rainforest
Estudio Garúa 

Shelter in the rainforest

Estudio Garúa 


At kilometer 2 along the Pipeline Road in Gamboa, in the Panama Canal zone, this pavilion engages in dialogue with the rainforest. It is part of a campus run by the Eugene Eisenmann Avifauna Foundation, which offers ecotourism amenities including trails, an observation tower, and a visitor center providing information on the area’s natural heritage.

The building presents two principal elements. One is the large gabled ThermoPanel roof held up by just two main columns and a big central beam doubling as a support for the ridge, which descends to form two hyperbolic paraboloids. The other is under the roof: an elevated wooden platform where visitors are welcomed.