30th Jun 2011

Serpentine Variation

This is the third year that we have been invited to build the Serpentine Gallery's Summer Pavilion, a unique and hugely varied commission that has provided us with the opportunity to draw upon different skills, experience and facilities from within our business each time. Whilst the location and the time frame might have remained constant, the three Pavilions we have constructed have been anything but.

The cloud-like structure of the 2009 SAANA designed Pavilion required an innovative approach to engineering and an in-depth understanding of different materials. It drew heavily on our experience in the manufacture and installation of composite panels and fixings, enabling us to work closely with engineering advisors Arup to accomplish a number of design solutions.

In contrast, the pillar-box red 2010 Pavilion by Jean Nouvel drew primarily on our steel fabrication experience and skills, requiring us to fabricate the 45 tonnes of steelwork and supporting structure in our workshops in Yorkshire. The installation on-site meant, as usual, working within the extremely tight confines of the Pavilion's footprint, controlling difficult deliveries such as that of the 18m central beam, whilst ensuring adherence to the strict conditions of the Royal Parks Agency.

This year's Pavilion, designed by Peter Zumthor, is a Hortus Conclusus, an intimate, transitional building which allows the visitor to detach from the outside world, providing a frame for the garden within. Constructed from timber, we manufactured the 152 truss sections in our workshops before assembling the 33m by 12m structure on-site. Clad with over 1200 sheets of ply, the Pavilion was then wrapped with a hessian scrim before being coated with a thin wash of black Idenden and water, a painterly finish that provided a serene backdrop for the intimate landscape within.