Serpentine Pavilion 2015 – An ETFE Foil Icon

• 520 m2 ETFE foil in 15 colours
• 22 km of ETFE foil welding
• 2.8 km Printed ETFE ribbons in 17 colours
• Extensive R&D to ascertain best material & printing results

A rainbow wormhole ready to suck you into another dimension? A psychedelic pupa? A beguiling, colour-changing maze? The 2015 Serpentine Pavilion has been described as all three and is definitely an eye-catching, opinion-dividing piece of architectural art.

Part of a 15 year tradition of temporary structures erected in Kensington Gardens beside the Serpentine South Gallery,  this year is the first to feature the extensive use of ETFE foil and Architen Landrell are proud to have been involved in this iconic design.

This year marks the 15^th anniversary of the architectural event and the gallery made it clear that this year they were looking for a ‘Party Pavilion’, and the results reflect just that. Architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano (SelgasCano) have designed an undulating organic form, experimenting with space-age materials and striking array of colour combinations (unusual in the world of architecture). The emphasis is not only the structure itself, it also focuses on the interaction with people as they pass through, and the reflected/transmitted light ‘playing’ with the interior canvas (the white resin floor is highly reflective to create just that – a canvas).

Working alongside our client, Stage One, Architen Landrell completed the design, manufacture and installation in an incredibly tight timeframe, 3 months from concept development to completion. As each panel was entirely unique and pushing the boundaries of membrane design and fabrication, a huge number of materials were researched from PVC to PTFE, PVDF to (eventually) ETFE in order to obtain one with the required strength, light transmission, clarity and printing capability. But material choice was not the most complex aspect of this design; the extremely complicated form required precise patterning and connection detailing before it could be manufactured on site at Architen Landrell (Chepstow) and then installed over a period of 3 weeks on site in Kensington Gardens. Fitting of the panels was performed by a crew of specialists provided by Stage One and overseen by Architen Landrell.

Night-time photograph courtesy of Iwan Baan