SPRESSER and Peter Besley have won the Sydney Pier Design Competition and will create a pavilion made of recycled oyster shells. As the team explains, the Pavilion references human gathering by the sea; it is designed as a democratic gathering space under a landscape canopy for meetings and events. The Pavilion aims to celebrate elements that compose the site: land, sea and sky.
Approximately 380 sqm in area, the Pavilion consists of 123 columns, an 8m diameter oculus and a smaller free-standing enclosure which contains a stage and bar. Land is expressed with a curved envelope analogous to neighboring coves. Sea is experienced via materiality. Sydney rock oysters are mixed with white concrete, which is then honed to reveal the shell. Sky is understood through a large oculus puncturing the canopy.
The Pavilion is designed to remain standing, and become "indivisible" from the place. The team explains that it is intended to "figure in people’s memories as they grow: from child to teenager, to adult and elderly person. The design’s distinctive shape, qualities of light, compelling spaces, and oyster texture will all live on in the mind over time."
The Pavilion is due for completion in late 2022.
News via SPRESSER and Peter Besley
