Designed by Make Architects, Portsoken Pavilion is the centerpiece structure in a new landscaped public square commissioned by the City of London Corporation that has replaced a former gyratory and subways. The small building is a part of a larger civic aim to provide space for events and leisure, improve wellbeing, and provide natural surveillance. The new ?Aldgate Square? is one of the largest new public spaces in London?s Square Mile and improves the connection for the two distinctive listed heritage buildings that sit on either side of the square: the St Botolph without Aldgate church and Sir John Cass?s Foundation Primary School. Make Architects was briefed to create a new pavilion to sit proudly in this new landscape. It was to have an aesthetic relationship with their RIBA Award-winning City of London Information Centre adjacent to St Paul?s Cathedral, which was also commissioned by the client. This latest pavilion picks up on the asymmetrical angles of its predecessor, with an angular monocoque structure that folds down to meet the ground at just three points, with glazing in between. Corten cladding panels form a rigid structural skin, a faceted surface that reduces the overall profile of the pavilion and provides its character. The channels created by the layered cladding are also functional, allowing the rainwater to run down them into discreet drains located where the steel meets the Yorkstone paving. photography by © Martina Ferrera
The warm tones of the weath...