The Serpentine Pavilion is one of the most exciting projects in London’s cultural calendar and one of the top ten most-visited architectural and design exhibitions in the world. Each year, the Serpentine Galleries commissions an international architect to design a temporary pavilion for the gallery grounds.

The pavilion hosts a range of events throughout the summer, including a café and free family activities during the day and a space for the Serpentine’s acclaimed Park Nights programme of performative works by artists, writers and musicians by night.

AECOM has been involved with the project for the past five years, delivering a range of technical advisory services for the exciting programme. The tight timescale for erecting the Serpentine Pavilion always makes the project a particularly rewarding scheme to deliver. From the first spade hitting the ground to completion, the Serpentine Pavilion is typically built and delivered in around six weeks.

The technical advisory team plays an important role in the creative process, working closely with the architects to transform their designs into functional and buildable spaces without losing sight of their original vision.

As the project engineers in 2019 and 2018, AECOM’s role was to seamlessly incorporate the technical solutions that would transform Frida Escobedo’s architectural concept into a built reality for the public to explore and enjoy throughout the summer months.

In 2017, we delivered structural, civil, fire and electrical engineering services for the Pavilion, as well as planning and regulatory support for the architect Diébédo Francis Kéré from Burkina Faso.

In 2016, for the first time, the Serpentine Galleries expanded its annual architectural programme to include four Summer Houses and AECOM delivered full technical and engineering design services for these structures. In 2015, AECOM provided engineering and technical advisory services for Selgascano’s colourful, translucent, chrysalis-like structure. In 2014 the company helped design and deliver Smiljan Radić’s toroidal shell structure and in 2013 it provided engineering and technical design services for Sou Fujimoto’s cloud-like pavilion.

 

Services:

  • Structural engineering
  • Fire engineering
  • Electrical engineering
  • Civil engineering
  • Lighting design
  • Project management
  • Cost consultancy
  • Planning and regulatory support