Dezeen Magazine

IPT Architects creates rib cage-like pavilion using wooden frames

Visitors can stroll through free-standing wooden frames in this pavilion that IPT Architects has installed outside the V&A Museum of Childhood in east London.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

London studio IPT Architects designed Dream Pavilion in collaboration with their carpentry workshop Ecospace. It is intended to provide an interactive space that visitors can either walk through or spend time inside.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

"The pavilion aims to provoke discussions about architectural aspirations and creativity through exploring geometries to create inspiring spatial forms," explained architect Amira Idris-Town.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

"We feel there can be a fine line between a dream and reality, thus the perception of the pavilion constantly shifts from solidity to transparency depending on the vantage point," she said.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

Made from sheets of oriented strand board (OSB) – a kind of engineered chipboard – and untreated mild steel, the freestanding sections frame a pathway through the centre of the structure.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

Visitors access each end through a chunky doorway, but as they walk through the wooden sections become further spaced apart.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

"The pavilion structure creates inspiring and ever-changing shadows according to the movement of the sun, forming spaces with a sense of tranquillity, beauty and mysteriousness," added Idris-Town.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

A collection of small wooden blocks are positioned on each side to provide seats.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

The architects won the annual competition organised by Archtriumph to create a summer pavilion in the garden. It will remain in place until the end of June, as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects

It follows the inflatable 2013 pavilion by Paris studio Atelier Zündel Cristea, which comprised a twisting and undulating white tube.

Photography is by Giacomo Cannata.

Here's some more information about the project:


Dream Pavilion

Dream Pavilion is a self-supporting structure measuring 4m in height and approximately 59 m² in area, constructed primarily out of OSB sheet, timber and untreated mild steel. It is the design of a London based architecture practice IPT Architect working with Ecospace to realise the vision of a shifting form from solidity to transparency as an interpretation of the dream theme.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects
Plan - click for larger image

The Pavilion is a showcase structure to spotlight the work of an architect or design team and invites visitors to dream about a unique space, creating a place, achieving an ambition or simply being inspired by a series of thoughts, images and sensations within the unique setting of the Museum gardens.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects
Front elevation - click for larger image

Architect's Vision Statement

The pavilion aims to provoke discussions about architectural aspirations and creativity through exploring geometries to create inspiring spatial forms. Although there is a prescribed circulation route through the pavilion, thresholds between inside and outside are blurred and visitors can weave through the spaces towards the perimeter seats for further reflection.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects
Side elevation - click for larger image

We feel there can be a fine line between a dream and reality, thus the perception of the pavilion constantly shifts from solidity to transparency depending on the vantage point. The pavilion structure creates inspiring and ever-changing shadows according to the movement of the sun, forming spaces with a sense of tranquillity, beauty and mysteriousness.

The pavilion was fabricated by our sister company Ecospace, that design and build flexible modular buildings from garden studios to education buildings and homes.

Dream Pavilion by IPT Architects
Diagram showing components and fabrication - click for larger image

Architects: IPT Architects
Technical Design & Fabrication: Ecospace
Structural Engineers: Structure Workshop