Ecobuild pavilion

Writing in iconeye Penelope Shaw reports on London Metropolitan University’s School of Architecture and Spatial Design's pavilion made entirely out of 14 large composite timber panels. The aim of the pavilion, she writes, is to demonstrate that timber is both kind to the environment and can be used as a building material without sacrificing architectural qualities. She continues:

"To emphasise the ecological advantages of timber construction, the students made sure any waste materials were re-used. “We wanted to address the embodied energy of a building as well as its metabolism,” says David Grandorge, senior lecturer in structure, construction and materials. “So the pavilion will take on a new life as a studio space for artists Rut Blees Luxembourg and Hilary Koob Sassen at Hadspen in Somerset in June.”"

The pavilion is made from Kerto S composite timber elements, with 12mm plywood clad around the entire interior. An open section of the roof allows light to flood into the inner room and the whole project was inspired by studwork construction, Bernd and Hilla Becher’s photographs of framework houses in the Rhineland, and Frank Gehry’s early work.