Festival visitors helped finish a reclaimed timber shade structure in north London that PEARCE+ designed to show shade can be built without much money or expertise. The Guerrilla Shading Pavilion stands at Camden Collective, and every piece of its timber came from earlier PEARCE+ projects.
The pavilion was commissioned by Camden Town Unlimited and Euston Town BIDs for the Camden Inspire Festival. It responds to rising urban temperatures and the urban heat island effect, the process by which dense streets hold heat and release it after sunset.
Built to move
The reclaimed timber shade structure is a hexagonal form made from five prefabricated trapezoidal panels. The panels are sized to fit in a single transit van, and they were assembled on site. Designers intended the pavilion to be taken apart and rebuilt in new locations.
Its frame tapers to resist the wind loads that the tensioned canopies place on it. Those canopies are naturally dyed canvas sails, developed with artist Auda Sakho, that stretch outward from the core and widen the shaded area over the surrounding garden.
Materials and making the reclaimed timber shade structure
Structural timber was salvaged from previous PEARCE+ installations. Cameron Hot Air Balloons and Inflate Studio donated fabric for the walls. The lower part of the frame was left open on purpose, so visitors could weave that fabric through the timber and enclose the space themselves.
Salvaged material is a recurring theme in temporary architecture, and Norwegian students showed how far reclaimed lumber can go in a harbourside build. Norwegian students’ sauna built from salvaged lumber offers a useful comparison for anyone interested in reuse.
Festival visitors and local volunteers helped build the pavilion. Owen Hughes Pearce, PEARCE+ founding director, says the process worked as a conversation starter.
The slatted walls cast shade over a small interior. The frame of this reclaimed timber shade structure also serves as a fixing point for large sheets of fabric, which can be pulled out to create a wider roof.
A case for shade as infrastructure
PEARCE+ developed the project with Shade The UK, a campaign group. Pearce argues that shade is overlooked in Britain, where conversations about overheating fade once the weather cools.
“We need to start treating shade as essential infrastructure, not a seasonal luxury,” Pearce told Dezeen. He says that change requires new planning policy and also people acting on their own. “Making shade doesn’t need to be expensive or complicated,” he added.
The studio also published Guerrilla Shading Our City, a free, open-source guide. It covers low-cost options, including external shutters, domestic shade sails, and campaigns for street trees. The guide also sets out municipal planning permissions as part of the route to shading a street or garden.
Next stops
Camden Unlimited plans to take the pavilion on tour in the new year, working with local organisations and schools. Pearce wants it to continue evolving as new sails and contributions are added at each stop.
Pearce also hopes this reclaimed timber shade structure reaches Glastonbury Festival. “Anyone who’s been there during a heatwave knows there’s precious little shade,” he said. He envisions a series of shading structures across the site, each built collectively.
The pavilion’s value will depend on whether its designers and hosts can keep it moving. Each reassembly adds fabric, sails, and new builders, and that is how a single shade structure becomes a set of shaded spaces across the city.
Each reassembly here adds new builders and new fabric, so the structure keeps changing. Modular timber pavilion turned Pittsburgh community teahouse shows a similar path, moving from festival entrance to a permanent gathering place.
Project credits, as reported across sources:
- Client: Camden Town Unlimited and Euston Town BIDs, for the Camden Inspire Festival
- Architect: PEARCE+ (@pearce_plus), with lead architect Owen Hughes Pearce
- Design team: Owen Hughes Pearce, Ken Pearce, Sam Bray, Charlotte Martin, Hannah Innes, Tim Lyddon
- Collaborator: Shade The UK
- Structural engineering: Root Workshop and Momentum Structural Engineers (Dezeen and Architecture Today credit Momentum Engineering)
- Material donations: Cameron Balloons and Inflate Studio
- Natural dyeing workshops: Auda Sakho
- Photography: Ben Sage and Samuel Bray (@sbrayphoto)
Sources & Links
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the Guerrilla Shading Pavilion in Camden?
PEARCE+ designed the Guerrilla Shading Pavilion. It was commissioned by Camden Town Unlimited and Euston Town BIDs for the Camden Inspire Festival.
Where is the Guerrilla Shading Pavilion located?
The pavilion stands at Camden Collective in north London. Every piece of its timber came from earlier PEARCE+ projects.
Can the reclaimed timber shade pavilion be moved to other locations?
Yes, the designers intended the pavilion to be taken apart and rebuilt in new locations. It is made from five prefabricated trapezoidal panels sized to fit in a single transit van.
Where did the fabric for the pavilion’s walls come from?
Cameron Hot Air Balloons and Inflate Studio donated the fabric for the walls. Visitors wove this fabric through the open lower part of the timber frame to enclose the space.
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