Dulwich Colour Palace

We are very proud to have been commissioned as fabrication partner and principal contractor for the development and delivery of the Dulwich Colour Palace, the winning submission by Pricegore Architects and artist Yinka Ilori, for the 2019 Dulwich Picture Gallery’s Summer Pavilion. The competition is co-created by the Gallery and the London Festival of Architecture.

Structurally, the design is based around a concealed steel gantry which is supported on steel legs hidden by red-painted manhole rings. Connection to the ground is made by a series of 32 groundscrews.

This creates a base for the blue timber framework which was manually graded for the project.

engineersHRW, the engineering partner, provided a joint connector concept that could be applied to the various nodes, and we eventually developed the CAD and laser cut files for the 48 different joint types.

The structure receives bracing via main steel tension cables which are threaded through the joints, as well as smaller truss-style bracing at intermediate structural levels.

The louvre cladding comprises over 6300 linear metres of ex 2x2” redwood which has a different paint colour applied to each face, with a stencilled pattern applied to the outer face. We produced a series of custom stickers to label each piece of wood to streamline the painting process.

The design is intended to create a shimmering and shifting pattern as the audience walks around the structure, and the real-life effect is stunning.

For more info read about the pavilion at Dezeen.