Design and Construction of a Reception Pavillon

By Francesco Pagliari - 8 January 2010

Design experiments and hands-on implementation at the Biberach Polytechnic. Professor Matthias Loeberman’s course ropes in the students to design a reception pavilion in which to welcome athletes and delegations during the world ski championships. The project had to meet some pretty tight constraints. The choice of material fells on wood which is widespread throughout the area. Then, construction technique: facility of dismantling and recuperating the materials was at a premium, not least because course attenders would be putting up and taking down the pavilion themselves. The design entailed an installation that would blend in with the setting and provide an attractive venue for athletes and journalists to relax in. Construction made use of “Euro-pallets” of the kind normally employed in packaging and transporting goods. The material would later be retrieved for other uses. The pallet shape lends itself to stacking into reticular structures. Specially positioned tackle stays strap the structure to stakes drilled into the ground. The upper layer pallets are placed in position by mobile crane. The finished edifice functions like a stretched, pre-loaded shell, the pallet walls being pegged to the ground at regular intervals by tackle tensed under traction. Overhead, horizontal beams set between the shell and the roof structure brace against flexing.

Francesco Pagliari