project

Serpentine Pavilion 2015, London – Multi-Coloured ETFE Foil Pavilion by SelgasCano

Membrane
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General information

  • Home page
    https://www.architen.com/projects/serpentine-pavilion-2015-etfe/
  • Location address
    Serpentine South Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London, UK
  • Location country
    United Kingdom
  • Year of construction
    2015
  • Name of the client/building owner
    Serpentine Galleries
  • Function of building
    Exhibition
  • Degree of enclosure
    Open structure
  • Climatic zone
    Temperate - cold winters and mild summers
  • Number of layers
    mono-layer
  • Type of application of the membrane
    covering
  • Primary function of the tensile structure
    • Rain protection
    • Space defining elements
    • Sun protection
    • Wind protection

Description

The 2015 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Spanish architects José Selgas and Lucía Cano (SelgasCano), marked the 15th anniversary of the Serpentine Galleries' annual summer commission in Kensington Gardens. Asked for a celebratory "party pavilion", SelgasCano designed an undulating, chrysalis-like form of minimal steel framing wrapped in translucent, multi-coloured ETFE, with secret corridors leading into the main internal space. It was the first pavilion in the series to make extensive use of ETFE foil, and coloured daylight passing through the skin played across a highly reflective white resin floor.

Working for Stage One, Architen Landrell carried out the membrane design, manufacture and installation in about three months from concept development to completion. Every panel was unique, so an extensive research programme tested PVC, PTFE and PVDF before ETFE was chosen as the only material offering the required strength, light transmission, clarity and printing capability.

The skin uses around 520m² of ETFE foil in 15 colours, with some 22km of foil welding, plus 2.8km of printed ETFE ribbons in 17 colours woven across the structure. The complex form needed precise patterning and connection detailing before fabrication at Architen Landrell's Chepstow factory. The panels were installed over three weeks in Kensington Gardens by a specialist Stage One crew overseen by Architen Landrell.

Client/building owner: Serpentine Galleries. Architect: SelgasCano (José Selgas and Lucía Cano). Steel and pavilion contractor: Stage One. ETFE foil: PATI (Guarniflon). ETFE design, fabrication and installation: Architen Landrell.

Description of the environmental conditions

Material of the cover

  • Cable-net/Fabric/Hybrid/Foil
    Foil
  • Type (code)
    ETFECT® ETFE digitally printed
  • Material Fabric/Foil
    ETFE-foil

Main dimensions and form

  • Covered surface (m2)
    1165

Duration of use

  • Temporary or permanent structure
    Temporary

Involved companies

Editor