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.