Pavilion for All

A landmark for the community

London, United Kingdom

The Pavilion for All competition is for a landmark sports and active play pavilion, located within the heart of the Clitterhouse Playing Fields. These fields will play a large part of the emerging Brent Cross Town that will include 6,700 new homes and workplaces for 25,000 people.

Our initial research focused on the site’s rich history, starting with the medieval Clitterhouse Manor and Clitterhouse Farm (Fig. 01). The Clitter part of Clitterhouse is thought to originate from the word ‘clite’ or clay and has been roughly translated to mean ‘clay house’. This early discovery led us to consider and define our material choices for our proposal – a refined earth construction with rammed earth combined with a lightweight timber frame and shingle roof. Projecting recycled steel gutters celebrate rain water harvesting and provide a spectacle for the pavilion’s users, thereby raising awareness of the structure’s low tech, low energy approach. Ground source heat pumps are an ideal solution for heating, cooling and power, given the large land site area and unhindered south orientation - the ground has capacity to store a large amount of solar energy. We were equally interested to discover that influential suffragette Gladice Georgina Keevil lived at Clitterhouse Farm between 1884 and 1913. We find it fitting that a women’s right campaigner should be represented within the new pavilion and have suggested that the café within our proposal be named after Gladice (Fig. 02).

Our response carefully considers our proposal’s visibility from all sides of Clitterhouse Playing Fields. Accessibility has also been carefully considered with meandering slopes at low gradients present throughout.

We believe it is critical to address the climate crisis particularly given the impact the built environment has on carbon emissions. Limiting our emissions will have a significant impact on our future and accordingly aiming towards net zero carbon future is one way we can begin to address the problems posed by global warming. Net zero carbon means that we balance the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted with the amount we remove from our atmosphere. The proposed construction materials, systems and techniques that we have proposed are in line with achieving this ambitious goal. (Fig. 03)

  • Location:

    London 

  • Project start:

    2021

  • Gross Floor Area:

    1000 sq. m 

  • Client:

    Argent Related

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