The Observatory at Electric Forest

Practice Area

Client

Madison House Presents

  1. In Sherwood Forest, an open clearing gives way to a set of permanent structures that make up The Observatory and stage – a huge, purple, castle-like structure, with an adjacent upper viewing deck.

  2. The Observatory stage at Electric Forest is inspired from an eclectic mix of influences that results in a novel and authentic style.

  3. Layered cut plywood with printed graphics make up the front panel of The Observatory stage.

  4. The Arbor is a viewing platform where people can observe and be observed.

  5. The second deck level has a number of built in pavilion-style structures that are stacked above a market and bar area.

  6. Stantec Visioning, Brands, and Experiences designed structures, pavilions, the stage, and other experiences that make up The Observatory.

  7. Design inspiration was culled from an eclectic mix of influences in order to create a place full of surprise, wonder, and unexpected moments – a world’s fair in the woods, where past and future meet.

Project Vision

Electric Forest opens for a single week every year, catering primarily to Jam Band and Electronic music genres. The Observatory is a festival stage and environment set among the mystical Sherwood Forest within the festival grounds; the forest is hundreds of 70-foot-tall white pine trees planted in 1955. As attendees walk through the forest, they see elements of the festival that Madison House and Insomniac have cultivated over the years, including a psychedelic interactive maze, a swan fountain and even a wedding chapel.

In the forest, a clearing gives way to a set of permanent structures that make up The Observatory and stage: a huge castle-like structure, with an adjacent upper viewing deck that provides amazing views of the area. At night, the castle spires are marked by spotlights and lasers that become a beacon from afar.

Madison House Presents wanted to create an enhanced experience that would coalesce with the rest of the forest and provide a greater sense of place for The Observatory stage. Stantec reinvented The Observatory experience, which included the immediate surrounding area, viewing platforms, custom structures and overall placemaking components. The solution unfolded after establishing desired outcomes in a visioning exercise with the team. The whimsy and wonder represented in the structures that were designed and built are strikingly similar to what was sketched by hand from early design meetings, a positive testament to the success of the project from concept through implementation.

Project Details
Design Team

Larry Weeks (lead design director), CarloMaria Ciampoli (senior designer); Aaron Borchardt, Steven Park Chaffer, Zack Benson (designers)

Project Area

19,000 sq ft

Fabricators

Madison House Presents, Insomniac