Nook Pavilion / Dazhou And Associates

Corner Pavilion / Dazhou And Associates

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Text description provided by the architects. Located on a pedestrian street by the West Lake in Hangzhou, Corner Pavilion is a small building designed by Dazhou And Associates for the coffee brand M Stand. The street is crowded with people and the site is defined out by three ginkgo trees, less than 100 meters from the West Lake.

Sculpture and Support. With three simple geometries supporting the heavy metal roof volume, the building stands like a sculpture on a busy street. It opens up in all directions, so that there is no obstruction at eye level except for the necessary structure, and you can look at it and then through it.

Shelter and Platform. It must be a space to enter and to stay. In the design, we compressed the bar space as much as possible and gave the semi-outdoor platform to the street. The large shelter attracts people coming and entering to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. We wanted the corner pavilion to blend into the street and become an important public space in the square.

Reach out to West Lake. The metal texture makes the Corner Pavilion look heavy and calm, while the delicate structure allows it to float lightly. In the design, we intentionally canceled a column on the West Lakeside, and the large roof is completed with more than 4m cantilevers, allowing view and space to extend towards the West Lake. The Corner Pavilion is neither close nor far from the lake, and it is quietly conversing with the West Lake in its own way.

The answer is seven nights. How many days does it take to transport 10 tons of steel from Shanghai to Hangzhou? After the design was completed, at the request of the scenic spot and the shopping mall, we could get only seven nights to build it. Due to the precise design development of the steel structure, we disassembled the main structure into several truss parts and performed a trial assembly in a factory in Shanghai, then disassembled and delivered the parts to Hangzhou for an on-site assembly. Precise detail design and construction control kept the error to millimeter level, allowing for the most complete presentation of the design.

The Corner Pavilion is quiet, not showing off or yelling, and it has been there for a long time since the first moment it was there. When autumn comes, the ginkgo leaves fall on the roof, people take a rest here in the descending twilight, looking west, it is the sunset of West Lake.