Re-Emerge Pavilion, a collaboration between AA postgraduate programme EmTech and Hassell Studio, has won the Architizer A+ Award in the Architecture+Collaboration category.

The AA EmTech programme and Hassell Studio collaborated on the project to create a new pavilion in Bedford Square, titled Re-Emerge Pavilion. The research agenda of the pavilion focused on production in a world with limited resources. The project emphasised the pavilion's ecological impact from the early phases of the design process onwards.

Construction waste is useful.

Wood is inherently the best bio fabricated and biodegradable material. When a timber building is demolished after several decades it does not produce useless waste, but instead generates reclaimed wood that can be reused and repurposed, hence becoming part of the circular economy. Re-Emerge is created with grade A reclaimed wood pallets.

Complexity arises from simplicity.

Morphological and structural complexity was adopted by the variable aggregation of similar modules that are formed by scoring and steam bending. The modules are assembled with lap joints, diminishing the need for secondary materials in the joinery system.

The conscious attitude of the project towards the environment is maintained in its fabrication and instalment.

The employment of life cycle assessment (LCA) in computational workflows has facilitated the ability to take into consideration CO2 emissions associated with not only the material itself, but also its origins and transportation to site.

Third Life

At the end of its second lifecycle, part of the pavilion was erected in Hassell Studio and part of it was sent back to the timber recycling facilities where it was resourced from. The ambition of Re-Emerge was to create a strong dialogue between the local timber industry and its by-products.

Acknowledgements

AA EmTech

Dr. Elif Erdine, Dr. Michael Weinstock, Dr. Milad Showkatbakhsh, Abhinav Chaudhary, Eleana Polychronaki, Lorenzo Santelli, Felipe Oeyen.

EmTech 2020–22 students, EmTech 2021–23 students and Volunteers from across the AA.

Image: Re-Emerge, 2022. Courtesy of EmTech.