The MultiPly pavilion completed a two-week residency at Madrid Design Festival 2020 last week. Originally featured as a landmark project for 2018’s London Design Festival, this was MultiPly’s fourth iteration, the modular design being configured differently each time.

The pavilion is a collaboration between Waugh Thistleton Architects, Arup and the American Hardwood Export Council. It was manufactured here at Stage One from 2.8m finger-jointed panels of cross-laminated timber, in this case from fast-growing yet strong American tulipwood. The seventeen individual modules include intersecting units, overhanging units, stairs, ramps and bridges and can be reconfigured in multiple ways, creating a maze-like structure with thicker panels used for load bearing locations.

The MultiPly pavilion is carbon neutral and aims to demonstrate the benefits of prefabrication and demountable modular timber construction. This was the fourth time our crew have installed this versatile structure, previous locations having included the V&A and Milan.

The pavilion returns to us between outings for maintenance and protected storage.