London Met students design new Pavilion for the National Forest News from the School of Art, Architecture and Design

The winning design will be built next month by students from a local construction college, and used as an exhibition space about climate change.

Date: 19 January 2022

Second year students from London Met's Architecture BA programme are designing a new pavilion for the National Forest. 

The pavilion designs will be made from local timber, with the different ideas evaluated through a competition. The winning design will be built next month by students from a local construction college, and used as an exhibition space about climate change. 

The exhibition will be held in a Derbyshire town square, on behalf of the South Derbyshire Council, who commissioned the design competition. The winning idea could then be scaled up to be developed as an off-grid retreat for people to stay in The National Forest.

Sian Moxon, lecturer in Architecture at London Met explained, "The students worked on this for their Semester A project brief to help them learn design skills - such as drawing conventions, health and safety requirements, construction methods and sustainable design approaches – through a real project, with advice from expert external consultants, such as structural engineers."

The project has been led by Technology tutor Robert Barnes, linking his practice and teaching work, supported by Moxon, associate professor George Fereday and London Met's Architecture BA studio tutors.

London Met's Architecture courses and research have a considerable focus on sustainability. A major project from Fereday, HomeGrownHouse, promotes sustainable construction through the use of British timber, while Moxon explores and encourages rewilding, for the benefit of wildlife, people and the climate.