More than a building: the Serpentine Pavilion
When is a building more than a building?
Every summer, the Serpentine Gallery constructs a temporary pavilion in London’s Hyde Park. Designed by cutting edge international architects, these bold structures challenge the traditional notion of building by combining style, art, construction and public relations to create highly anticipated architectural events.
When is construction more than construction?
A busy city park. A popular gallery. A fixed deadline and budget. A three-month programme. A daring and complex architectural feat. On their own, each of these restrictions would challenge a construction company. Together, they demand a comprehensive approach to delivery that reaches beyond construction knowledge to draw in a range of diverse expertise.
1. The right partner
On SANAA’s pavilion design in 2009 and Jean Nouvel’s in 2010, Mace acted as sponsor and project manager on the Serpentine Gallery pavilions. Early in the process of delivering the first project, the Mace team realised it would require more than simply construction expertise to create the floating wave design.
[The Jean Nouvel 2010 Pavilion]
On the SANAA project and again on the 2010 pavilion, Mace assembled a team of experts from preconstruction, fund-raising, design management, project management, and construction delivery to create a bespoke and adaptable package of services delivered with a single clear mission.
2. The right start
Once the team was in place, the first challenge was to figure out how to make the architectural design buildable. Mace found the suppliers for the various components at a cost within the gallery's budget and ensured that the architect's vision was protected as it was moved off the page and into the live gallery site. Because of the unique and therefore untested nature of the design, changes and adaptations were plentiful, made more difficult by the extremely limited timeline. Staying on top of the process, finding alternatives, and most importantly, keeping all stakeholders involved was fundamental to the delivery of both projects.
3. The right direction
In addition to the 2009 and 2010 Pavilions Mace is also involved in the preparation and installation of an inspiring exhibition in Kensington Gardens by one of the UK’s most acclaimed artists, Anish Kapoor who intends to ‘turn the world upside down with his artwork constructed from highly reflective steel, including giant curved mirrored surfaces that provide distorted illusions of the surroundings, creating new scenarios in the wilderness of the Kensington greenery. Mace assisted in preparation of the art pieces and provided assistance with logistics checking method statements and overseeing the overall project.
4. The right expertise
Mace has extensive experience working on complex cultural projects, from our recent work on the 2010 Shanghai Expo pavilion for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the forthcoming Transforming Tate Modern. Our ability to deliver on time, on schedule while meeting the challenges of cutting edge architecture and creating public interfaces is essential to our success.
5. The right size
As our work with the Serpentine shows Mace is committed to providing a quality service to arts and culture clients whether it be a small scale sculpture exhibition or a large museum or library renovation project. The benefits of being involved projects such as the London Library or the Royal Shakespeare Theatre transformation project are undeniable but Mace is aware that its work on smaller scale arts and culture projects is just as rewarding. Through experience at working on smaller arts and culture-led projects Mace knows that these are often designed to either bring culture and new artists into the public conciousness or to improve the image and quality of life in some of the most deprived areas of England. In the case of the public sector, smaller arts and culture projects are critical elements in local authorities’ attempts to regenerate their towns and citiies; to raise the profile of the areas and create a new image for the coast, to attract new visitors and new investors.
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