16th Feb 2010

Pavilion Wins International Award

The green Pavilion in the Sculpture Park of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, built by ourselves for Danish architects 3XN, has been honoured with the JEC Innovation Award 2010 for its design combining sustainability and intelligent materials.

The Pavilion is constructed from biodegradable biological materials such as cork, flax fibres, corn and soya beans.  Together they form a bio-composite developed especially for the project.  The entire process has been a remarkable learning experience in replacing traditional materials with the biological.

"We are highly experienced at working with complex shapes and unusual materials. In this instance we worked with biologically derived materials in a structural application, which was new for us" explains Edwin Stokes, FRP Development Director for Stage One. He continued, "the project was made even more challenging by a demanding deadline and a tight budget."

A number of high technology elements are integrated into the Pavilion, which results in the sculpture having an interaction with its environment.  Phase changing materials regulate the temperature, so the pavilion is warm to sit on when it is cold and feels cool on a warm summer day.  The exterior skin is self-cleaning and also has a photocatalytic effect of cleaning the surrounding air.  The most important interaction is the immediate one with users, as the pavilion can be touched and walked on unlike most of the other sculptures in the garden at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

The Pavilion was created for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art's primary exhibition leading up to the UN Climate Conference in December, 'Green Architecture for the Future'.  In just four months, the idea, design and materials came together.  This intense process required an integrated co-operation between the projects three main partners – 3XN, COWI and ourselves, along with more than 20 other innovative companies.

The JEC Innovation Award will be handed out at a ceremony in conjunction with the JEC Composites Show in Paris April 13 2010. The Pavilion is on exhibit at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art until April 1 2010.