In the lead-up to the water-skiing world championships at Dongli Lake in Tianjin, event organizers required a pavilion on the water’s edge, to house offices, change rooms and an elevated viewing platform.
Approximately two hours southeast of Beijing, this lake resort sought to built iconic infrastructure that would be a legacy after the competition. Having travelled to Vancouver and seen Fast + Epp’s design for the Brentwood SkyTrain Station on the Millennium Line, the Owner desired the same aesthetic, with a twist.
With this mandate and the project’s looming deadline, a novel interpretation was developed – we took a curved glue-laminated wood-and-steel rib from Brentwood’s existing shop drawings and rotated each successive frame outwards. Thus, we were able to create a uniquely-curvilinear form, stitched together by a steel truss.
Using prefabrication, we were able to ensure the project’s completion in time for the water-skiing event, and the pavilion stands as a lasting introduction of timber construction in the area.
