A Furniture Pavilion S has been converted into 410 hexagonal plywood chairs and tables in Fuqing, a small rural community in China. Changing this architect-built exhibition space into furniture was the idea of Rooi Design and Research studio founded in Cape Town in 2018, with offices in Beijing and Shenzhen.
The firm thought that the temporary showrooms designed for exhibitors generate lots of waste which cannot be recycled and cleaned properly and that cause pollution. And thus came out with this sustainable solution for transforming plywood pavilion into furniture pieces.
While doing preparation for the Shanghai International Furniture Fair 2019, they took an ingenious tactic to design an outdoor independent pavilion- Furniture Pavilion S, which has now been given a new lease of life.
It is a great sustainable design solution created by Rooi which is working on its ethos of designing 'better and more "human scale” environments for users. This angular and geometrical exhibition space has been designed for a brand- Side Furniture- founded by Xin Huachen in 2018.
‘We believe a design concept cannot be separated from its original context,’ says Rooi’s biography, a sentiment that drives a Furniture Pavilion S as a project that’s sustainable and thoughtfully made for past, present and future shared experiences.
Along with sustainability, making the structure at a minimum cost was the priority. In that sense, the use of plywood seems apt for the modular structure. A total of 821 pieces of market standard size 1.22m×1.22m plywood was used that can be easy and fast to assemble and dissemble.
Steel has been used in the rest of the body and roof of the structure to ensure that the environmentally-conscious model stays to be seamless in its appearance.
Also, each display cove has been brightened with light. The structure does not have any column to give a neat and sleek exhibition experience to the audience. Later, each plywood is transformed into an ideal hexagonal table and 3 rectangle chairs.
The structure was nicely installed and pieced together for communal use. The studio was eager to ‘design the furniture which can be combined into different forms to increase the interactivity and fun, at the same time enrich the community activities.’
The amazing feature of this edifice is that it is extremely simple to build and can assemble within 48 hours, which reduces the construction cost and saves time. The main characteristic of Pavilion S is that it is not just a furniture showroom, but a place where one can comfortably sit and rest during the exhibition.
There are 2 different cubes in the exterior of the structure, whereas 4 facades have become windows to showcase the furniture. It is constructed in this way to allow people to get different views of the furniture from various angles.
Rooi Design and Research studio mainly specializes in cultural architecture. Founded in Cape town in 2018, the studio has its offices in Beijing and Shenzhen.
*Photography by Ming Chen
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