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Atelier Ten’s termite-inspired cooling approach uses a building-integrated underground concrete labyrinth to temper outdoor air before it enters a building. Fans and dampers control the airflow, while the concrete mass stores and releases heat; it is a low-energy strategy, not a system that eliminates mechanical equipment altogether. Building Design + Construction described the approach and several projects in 2010, so its performance figures should be read as historical claims attributed to Atelier Ten founder Patrick Bellew—not as current, independently verified results.
What does “learning from the white ant” mean in building design?
“White ant” is an older common name for a termite. In the 2010 feature “Atelier ten: Learning From the White Ant”, Bellew described termite nests as inspiration for three principles relevant to building cooling: convection, thermal mass and evaporative cooling. The design lesson was not to reproduce the shape of a nest. It was to consider how air movement, heat storage and—in extreme heat—water might help regulate an environment.
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Those principles are a design analogy as presented in the feature, not a complete scientific account of termite biology. The distinction matters: a building can borrow a strategy suggested by an organism without duplicating its biology, and a convincing analogy does not by itself demonstrate that the resulting building performs sustainably.
- Convection: air moves as pressure and temperature differences drive it. In Bellew’s account, nest ventilation openings help create airflow through tunnels.
- Thermal mass: a substantial material can absorb and later release heat. Atelier Ten’s described system uses concrete tunnels as a thermal store.
- Evaporative cooling: water can contribute to cooling under suitable conditions. The 2010 article mentions water use in extreme heat as part of Bellew’s explanation of the termite analogy; it does not establish that every Atelier Ten labyrinth uses evaporative cooling.
In short, the biological reference offers a way to ask better design questions—how to move air, where to store heat and how to respond to hot conditions. The answers in a building still have to be engineered for its site, spaces and operating needs.
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How does Atelier Ten’s thermal-storage labyrinth work?
The labyrinth is a network of subterranean concrete passages integrated with the building but thermally decoupled from the spaces it serves. In the described summer mode, low-pressure mechanical fans draw warm outdoor air through the passages. Dampers regulate the route, and contact with the concrete mass cools the air before it is supplied to the interior.
The concrete is not simply a pipe through which air passes: the design uses the material as a heat store. As air exchanges heat with the tunnel surfaces, the mass absorbs heat. At night, cooler air is moved through the labyrinth to flush heat back out of the concrete, preparing it for later operation. At Federation Square, the feature describes long, rippled concrete walls intended to increase surface area and heat exchange. Night flushing is therefore part of the system’s operating strategy, not an incidental detail.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFans and dampers are integral. The system depends on controlled airflow, and it should not be described as entirely passive or as requiring no mechanical equipment. Its aim is to use the ground-coupled mass and air pathways to reduce cooling demand, rather than relying only on conventional overhead cooling. The actual balance between labyrinth cooling and other building systems depends on the project; the source does not provide a universal operating recipe.
The idea can be understood as a sequence: draw in outside air, route it through a thermally useful mass, regulate the flow, deliver tempered air to the served space, and use cooler nighttime conditions to remove stored heat. Whether that sequence can meet a building’s needs is a project-specific engineering question.
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How are earth ducts different from a concrete labyrinth?
Earth ducts are another ground-coupled approach, but they use buried pipes rather than a building-integrated concrete tunnel labyrinth. The 2010 feature describes long concrete or steel pipes buried several feet below grade; outside air drawn through them can be cooled or warmed through contact with the ground. Earth ducts commonly work alongside conventional heating and cooling systems.
The two approaches share the broad idea of exchanging heat with below-grade surroundings, but they are not interchangeable by definition. The labyrinth described by Atelier Ten is a thermal-storage system integrated with the building and designed around controlled air movement through substantial concrete passages. Earth ducts are pipe-based air pathways. The sources do not provide a full comparative performance dataset or establish a generally superior option.
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Which buildings did the 2010 feature identify?
The feature names three projects associated with Atelier Ten’s approach. They illustrate different applications, but the descriptions are historical reporting—not recent operational evaluations.
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Planet Earth Galleries, Earth Centre, Doncaster
The article calls the Planet Earth Galleries at the Earth Centre in Doncaster, England, the first application of Atelier Ten’s concrete labyrinth concept. It reports that the design eliminated mechanical cooling for the exhibit space. That is the feature’s account of the project; the available data contains no separate project evaluation to verify the result or establish that it would apply to other buildings.
Davis Alpine House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The article identifies the Davis Alpine House at Kew in England as an example. A 2012 doctoral thesis describes a strategy combining passive stack-effect ventilation, venting, shading and a termite-inspired thermal-mass labyrinth. In warmer conditions, cooling air could be routed through the labyrinth; a small fan could flush the mass at night. This is a historical description in the thesis, not a recent assessment of the building’s operation.
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For Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, the 2010 feature describes a labyrinth used to cool the atrium, with rippled concrete walls to increase surface area and nighttime flushing to cool the mass. It also says excess cool air could be directed to adjacent museum areas. The 2012 thesis discusses the system as well, but neither source, as represented in the available data, provides a current independent performance assessment.
What performance figures did Atelier Ten report?
The figures below come from the 2010 Building Design + Construction feature and are attributed to Bellew or to the article’s project description. They help explain the design argument, but the 2010 Building Design + Construction feature does not establish their baselines or independent measurement methods. They should not be treated as current guarantees, general benchmarks or verified results for other projects.
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- 80% about passive design: Bellew said, “Successful low-carbon buildings need to be 80% about passive design, using natural forces to minimize reliance on systems.” This is his design viewpoint, not a measured universal ratio or standard.
- 10% of conventional cooling energy: Bellew reportedly said Federation Square’s atrium used 10% of the annual energy for cooling that an overhead conventional cooling system would have required. The comparison’s baseline and independent measurement method are not established here.
- Less than 10 years to pay back additional cost: Bellew gave this as the estimated payback period for Federation Square’s additional labyrinth cost. It is a historical, project-specific estimate, not a current forecast for a new project.
- 100 years or more: Bellew stated that the concrete labyrinth could have a design life of 100 years or more. That is a design-life assertion, not proof of observed service life.
- 40°C: The feature says Federation Square’s thermal design analysis considered a daytime temperature of 40°C. This is context for that project, not a general design threshold.
- 300 metres by day; 100 metres at night: The article reports typical airflow travel distances at Federation Square of 300 metres by day and 100 metres during night flushing. These are project-reported figures, not standard distances for labyrinths generally.
Read together, these figures describe the case Bellew made for the project: invest in passive design and thermal mass, reduce the need for conventional cooling, and account for long-lived concrete infrastructure. They do not establish how another building will perform. A project team would need its own design analysis and a clearly defined basis for comparing energy use, cost and operating conditions.
What should a project team check before adopting the idea?
A termite-inspired cooling concept is worth considering only when its proposed mechanism fits the site and the building. The sources do not supply a universal sizing method or a complete cost model, but they point to the key decisions a project must resolve.
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- Define the cooling problem. Identify which spaces need tempering, when they need it and what role the labyrinth is expected to play alongside other heating and cooling systems. The examples range from an exhibit space to an atrium and a specialist greenhouse; those uses should not be assumed to have identical needs.
- Assess below-grade feasibility. The approach requires substantial underground passages or buried pipes. Consider whether the site and building layout can accommodate the relevant excavation and routes. The source material does not establish a minimum plot size, depth or tunnel dimension, so those cannot be prescribed from these examples.
- Design the airflow and controls. The described labyrinth uses low-pressure fans and dampers. The design needs a deliberate airflow route and a strategy for when to move air through the mass, including how night flushing will operate where it is part of the concept.
- Evaluate heat exchange for local conditions. The system’s logic depends on exchanging heat between air and below-grade mass, and the Federation Square account emphasizes both surface area and night cooling. Conditions at a different site may lead to different results; the reported 40°C design context is not a universal threshold.
- Compare against a defined alternative. If the energy or payback case is central, state what conventional system is being compared, what operating assumptions are used and which project costs are included. The 2010 article’s 10% energy figure and sub-10-year payback claim are not enough on their own to predict a new project’s outcome.
- Check the biological analogy and the building result separately. A design may draw inspiration from a termite nest without accurately replicating its biology. It also needs evaluation of its actual environmental performance; a nature-inspired feature alone does not prove whole-building sustainability.
This last distinction is central to responsible biomimicry. Maibritt Pedersen Zari’s 2012 thesis warns that some early architectural interpretations of termite-mound temperature regulation were simplistic or scientifically incorrect. It argues for understanding what is being mimicked—an organism, behavior or ecosystem, and a form, material, construction, process or function—rather than treating “nature-inspired” as proof of sound science or environmental benefit. The thesis discusses Eastgate as an often-cited example whose termite-science basis had been disputed; Eastgate is not one of the Atelier Ten projects described above. See the thesis, Ecosystem Services Analysis for the Design of Regenerative Urban Built Environments, for that broader critical context.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can readers learn more about architectural biomimicry?
For further reading, RIBA Publishing’s third edition of Biomimicry in Architecture, by Michael Pawlyn and Marcia Mihotich, is listed by RIBA Books as a 216-page hardback with ISBN 9781915722683 and a publication date of 1 September 2025. The listed scope covers biomimicry in architecture, building systems, materials and cities. It is broader than the Atelier Ten case and may help readers explore how biological inspiration can be translated into design questions.
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What is the practical takeaway from Atelier Ten’s termite-inspired design?
The enduring idea is not that buildings should imitate a termite mound literally. It is that airflow, thermal mass and nighttime heat rejection can be combined in a deliberately engineered system. Atelier Ten’s described labyrinth makes that idea concrete—literally—through underground passages, controlled fans and dampers, and a strategy for flushing stored heat. The historical projects show how the concept was applied, while the reported savings and payback figures remain project-specific claims from 2010. Any new proposal needs sound biological grounding where it invokes biomimicry, and independent project analysis to establish whether the building itself delivers the intended environmental performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does “white ant” mean termite?
Yes. “White ant” is a common name used for termites, although termites are not ants. The 2010 feature uses the older name in its title while discussing termite-inspired design.
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Is Atelier Ten’s labyrinth the same as the termite nest that inspired it?
No. The building system is an engineered arrangement of concrete passages, fans and dampers, not a reproduction of a nest. The biological reference is an inspiration for design principles, and the article does not establish that the system duplicates termite biology.
Does biomimicry automatically make a building sustainable?
No. A nature-inspired feature may be interesting without improving the whole building’s environmental performance. That needs to be evaluated separately, and the biological model should be understood accurately rather than reduced to a convenient metaphor.
Are the Federation Square energy and payback figures current guarantees?
No. They were reported by Bellew in a 2010 article as project-specific figures. The 2010 article does not establish their measurement method or make them a reliable forecast for another building.
