5th September 2017

Pop up pavilion

This summer we built a pop up pavilion in London’s beautiful Holland Park for our annual office party. It was a risky venture. Could we make it in time, would it work, would it rain, would we be arrested by the park police? We reckoned that a bit of adrenaline would only add to the fun.

We designed it first and just 3D printed all the connections. It took 10 days to print. Then we purchased white drainage pipes to use as tubes, blue rope to use as bracing and some meshed plastic fabric to use as paneling.

Party day arrived. The weather was fine, the team was ready, and the champagne was carried to the park without a hitch. We started final assembly at 5 pm and by 6pm we were under the finished pavilion with a glass of bubbly. It was a triumph! It worked perfectly for a few minutes before the park authority ordered us to dismantle it and leave the area free for the cricket players.

It was very exciting to work as an efficient, well oiled team and see the pavilion come together and be erected in only an hour. We had to be fast and coordinated, team work was essential to the success of the operation, and to not being arrested.

See the whole process on the time-lapse by clicking on the video of this page.
We are planning to rebuild the elements to be installed on the ceiling of our office so we can remind ourselves of the summer fun and the importance of team work!