George King Architects and Tisserin have been announced as the winners of the Devonshire Square community pavilion competition, backed by Railpen and Socius. The contest sought proposals for an ‘innovative and sustainable’ outdoor pavilion for the centre of a new mixed-use development in Cambridge. 

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The pavilion is constructed entirely from timber and shaped around three sculptural, tree-like forms that merge to create a sheltered canopy topped with a lush green roof. This design gives the impression that the structure is a natural extension of the landscape, gently floating above the ground.

It has been carefully developed to maximise both accessibility and flexibility, with the tree-like trunks making only minimal contact with the ground at three points. Within each trunk, hollowed sections function as light wells, allowing natural daylight to filter through the canopy and softly illuminate the space below, creating a warm, dappled atmosphere.

These hollows also serve a practical purpose in drainage. Rainwater from the green roof is guided downward through ‘rain chains’ within each hollow, which double as supports for climbing ivy, forming a continuous vertical connection of greenery between the pavilion and its roof.

The pavilion will be built in XXX

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