Northumberlandia Pavilion

Project Overview

This project was located at Northumberlandia, a unique piece of public art in a 46-acre community park. The site itself is a key area for conservation and wildlife with 16 red list species of birds being spotted onsite and tree sparrows now nesting in the woodland boxes. This student-led, self-build project creates a focal point at the entrance of the park. The gently curving form provides seating and shelter for visitors. A second tier of benches expands the capacity to accommodate school field trips. At one side, the tiers become a low-level lectern for interpretation panels. The sheets have been optimised with computational methods to ensure that there was minimal waste to the plywood sheets.

The design focused on ease of construction, repair, and sustainability, and was designed and constructed using an external-grade plywood, enabling production of the individual pieces through use of a flat-bed CNC router. Assembled in modules off-site, the structure was designed to be easily transportable, allowing for quick assembly onto a minimal-impact sub-frame of reclaimed larch founded on fence spikes. This created a fully demountable system, avoiding tree roots. The shape of structure was determined from 3D model exploded into component parts and overlayed onto the sheet.

Awards:

Architects Journal Small Project Awards: (Shortlisted)

IStructE Northern Counties Structural Awards: Small Projects Award Winner

IStructE Northern Counties Structural Awards: Structural Artistry Award Winner