Engineers design striking, efficient pavilion

Structural engineers Price & Myers, London, England, wanted to design a striking but efficient pavilion for the 2010 London Festival of Architecture, and the Hy Pavilion got right to the point. The tensioned structure consists of two intersecting hyperbolic paraboloids—or hypars—made of timber edge beams positioned at right angles to one another. Black cords strung across the pointed hypars hold the structure in place, and a canvas canopy is suspended over the stage, providing shelter for festival events.

The Hy Pavilion can be collapsed and transported by moving four footings, allowing it to be deployed in another location without cranes or scaffolding. The overall effect looks complex, but is based on a simple concept. “I wanted to create a pavilion for the festival that was made out of a very basic element—a straight line—put together in an interesting way,” says Tim Lucas, the Price & Myers partner who developed the hypar concept.