BARANGAROO PIER COMPETITION
IN COLLABORATION WITH OPENWORK, SARAH LYN REES, SCOTT CARVER AND WSP
The team were stage two finalists in the Barangaroo Pier Pavilion Design Competition short listed to one of 5 practices out of 173 submissions. The competition was run by Infrastructure NSW.
The genealogy of the seaside pavilions coming out of the Victorian era popularized the ‘pleasure pier’ typology, a manufactured landscape suspended between sky and water. A fantastical setting dominated by the ornate and exotic architecture of these seaside palaces, amazing and entertaining the littoral vacationers.
The pavilion stands as a nod to the times past and the future use of this place. A pavilion that is singular in its material fabrication. A memory of what the place once was. The landing of the mercantile. A single material applied to define ceiling, roof, ornament, structure. This is a space that acknowledges place through the passing of time. Light, shadow, ornament. A place that shimmers and shifts. Robust yet delicate.
This is a pavilion that is not required to be programmed for its potency and understanding to be shared. The ‘Vierendeel shell’, a structural solution for achieving a thin roof profile over a large span, has allowed for the varied patternation of light and the internal material quality to drive the experience for those who visit. This is a democratic space. A space for all. A space that defines itself through roof and interior. The spectacle. The world that is another. Place.
