Accoya Pavilion Aims High

The Built: East Pavilion in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was designed by OGU Architects and Donald McCrory Architects and celebrates the rich industrial heritage of the city.

Built: East was the winning design in The Belfast Flare competition run by the Royal Society of Ulster Architects. With cultural identity being a divisive issue, it was important to find cultural common ground shared across the neighbouring communities. The site has a rich industrial history, and the Belfast truss represents the area’s history of manufacturing ingenuity. Originally designed to make use of waste ship building timber, the Belfast truss also inspired the team to make careful use of resources. Many of the city’s largest factories had such a roof, including the Belfast Ropeworks which previously faced the site. Each element evokes memories of the area’s industrial structures.

Rather than a nostalgic look backwards, it draws attention to Northern Ireland’s emerging construction innovation and contributes to the local economy. The pavilion is an assembly of three elements, each crafted in a local factory. Traditional craft skills combined with innovative technologies created bespoke building components that could be rapidly assembled on site. 1:1 scale prototypes were CNC produced to develop the design of each truss and joint. The entire roof structure was assembled in the factory before being dismantled and transported to site.

The pop-up pavilion was constructed from sustainable and versatile Accoya®, supplied by International Timber, the UK’s leading importer and distributor of bespoke, sustainable timber and panel products, and their sister company, merchants JP Corry. Accoya is a highly reliable and durable timber which does not swell, shrink or distort, and can last in climate for more than 50 years. It also has unrivalled sustainability, with FSC® and Cradle to Cradle Gold™ certification.

David Hogg of International Timber said: “I’m so pleased that this brilliant project is being recognised at the Wood Awards. A lot of hard work went into supporting the architects to select the most practical timber sections, balancing aesthetics and cost-effectiveness and the project went really smoothly.”

Built: East Pavilion Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Architect: OGU Architects + Donald McCrory Architects Client: EastSide Partnership Structural engineer: O’Connor Sutton Cronin Main contractor: Farrans Construction Joinery & wood supplier: BPJ Group Timber Distributor: International Timber Roof engineering and installation: Fabrite Concrete: Moore Concrete Products Species: Accoya

Chris Upson, Director at OGU Architects, adds: “The design was our winning entry in a pavilion design competition run by the Royal Society of Ulster Architects and sponsored by JP Corry. The aim was to support design culture and emerging architecture practices in the city. It was fantastic to see our vision come to life, and the result is a striking architectural asset to Belfast that will be enjoyed by many for a long time to come.”

Setting the timber standard.