PAVILION WOOLWICH | pow-architects

COMMUNITY & LEISURE

WOOLWICH PAVILION, BERESFORD SQUARE WOOLWICH

The planning drawings for the pavilion and the wider public realm improvements were completed by Studio Weave and LDA Design as part of the Woolwich ‘Future High Street Fund’ Town Centre Improvements Vision which was set out by WeMadeThat in 2021.

Towards the Gatehouse they envisioned a ‘market garden’ which prioritised maximising the quantity of soft landscape, containing a ‘pavilion’ hosting commercial space and public wc’s. The pavilion would perform a civic role demarcating the threshold between bustling market and tranquil gardens. It also defines the route across to the Woolwich Arsenal

The regeneration of Beresford Square has improved accessibility and the natural environment for the community who use it.

We became involved through Elite Landscape who were the principal contractor on the job and who needed a safe pair of hands to deliver a deceptively complicated small building.

The programme for the project dictated that two key pieces of the design be resolved early, these were the Brickwork Arches and the Steel roof design.

A series of design workshops with the supplier IG Masonry support were held, utilising BIM to review and develop the CAD and CAM models for the factory up in Swadlincote (worth a visit if you like bricks and using them in creative ways).

The Bricks were quickly selected as they needed to be approved by the Local Planning Authority, the brick was a red stock brick, selected to closely match the Neighbouring Gatehouse, it was also handmade so to subject to greater dimensional tolerance when compared to a machine made one, this needed to be considered carefully during the design and manufacturing.

To agree how best to overcome this we suggested a series of dry lays in the factory before the brick slips ( a brick cut into an L-shape, which is then adhered to the stainless steel backing framework) this can be seen in the images below.

The project is complete and welcoming local residents in to a much improved public space.