Times Eureka Pavilion

Part of a small garden whose theme is ‘human dependency on plants’, this temporary pavilion is the latest in a string of quality architectural commissions by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Using principles of biomimicry, the architect NEX and landscape designer Marcus Barnett proposed a translucent pavilion based on the cellular structure of plants.
he design was developed using algorithms which replicate leaf capillaries.

Sitting on a raft of sustainably sourced spruce beams, primary timber ‘capillaries’ form the structure which is infilled with 136 unique timber cassettes and 586 unique plastic ‘cells’ made of recycled translucent polypropylene.

Rainwater from the roof runs through the capillaries inside the walls to the ground. The geometry of all the cassettes and cells radiates from two central vanishing points to create a dramatic and changing visual experience of the garden as visitors move through the structure. The pavilion can be dismantled and is entirely recyclable.