← Multistory← Multistory

This project traces a line through history, from the origins of the site as a place of trade & commerce in the 1800s, to it’s present day identity as an emerging live/work neighbourhood in London’s east end, at once celebrating the achievements of the past and the promise of the future.

Conceived as a vertical journey through a series of public rooms, the programme of an English Pleasure Gardens is stacked to create a multi —layered, multi-level, ‘multi-story’ experience. Inspired by Victorian spaces for leisure and play this series of grand rooms – picture room, dining room, games room, great hall and theatre– vary in size and proportion to provide a suite of volumes suitable for a range of different communal activities, from parties & gatherings to exhibitions and talks.

The slender form of the pavilion stands tall like that of an old Oak tree, terminating the vista of a long linear public space. Resting on two three trunk-like feet the upper levels create a sheltered under croft space with ticket booth, coffee kiosk, restrooms and access to lifts, allowing the public to move freely through the ground floor as an extension of the public realm. This extension is continued by a spiralling ramp that begins a public promenade connecting ground to roofscape, providing glimpses into the interior world in a game of spectacle and spectator. At points the ramp widens to create generous landings and terraces for moments of pause and rest. Crowning this journey is a ‘tree-top’ roof garden and belvedere bar looking out over the surrounding city skyline.

The main pavilion is joined by a smaller sibling that acts as a public house to activate the surrounding space, combining a café, bar and viewing platform. The stepped profile of this single storey pavilion creates an outdoor amphitheatre for large scale projections on to the façade of the building, in a free programme of film screenings and live events.

The expressive structural frame of both pavilions is partly inspired by traditional half timbered houses and by more innovative feats of British design & engineering like the glass & steel structures of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Cedric Price’s fun palaces, and Sir Richard Roger’s high tech Pompidou Centre. A veil of mesh encloses both structures, lending it a changing quality from day to night, from backdrop to illuminated vitrine showcasing the pulse of everyday life in this part of our growing metropolis.