Juan Herreros Architects designed this gorgeous green complex to seamlessly integrate into the sweeping undergrowth of a forest bustling with biological activity. The verdant structure features an elongated low-profile layout to help it blend in with the treetops, situating it as “a new species that respects, protects and enhances the forest”. An excellent example of low-impact green architecture, the design recently took second place in an international competition to design a new building for the CEA Cadarache Research Center.

The ITER Complex consists of a series of 5 lean buildings that embrace their environs with a site-tailored approach to construction: “Our deployment strategy is … to build without altering the conditions of the forest, to inhabit the forest without violence creating a symbiotic architecture with its microclimate and its density.”

Juan Herreros Architects designed the ITER structures with long profiles in order to preserve as much forest density as possible, allowing them to “inhabit the forest without exceeding [its] height”. Their construction method would only remove trees along these slender corridors, establishing a tightly-knit connection between the complex and its surroundings.

There’s no word on the projected focus of the complex, but the CEA is engaged in a broad range of research that includes climate and environmental sciences as well as alternative energies including hydrogen and solar power.