Design studio Rios has presented an installation made of timber panels for the International Mass Timber Conference in Oregon, USA, to demonstrate the “innovative potential of mass timber construction”.
The Campfire consists of a series of triangular volumes that visitors can walk through. It was created using wooden panels made from reclaimed fallen urban timber, repurposed and compressed into cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels.
Cut using a CNC machine, the panel edges were also left exposed to showcase the material’s interior make-up.
The triangular portions of the pavilion create a pathway that wraps around the space. The designers placed waist-high desks at the bases of the entry and exit.
The tallest of the panels is nine metres tall. Exposed steel joints connect the panels, running along the edges of the installation periodically.
“The installation features a continuously spiraling timber coil arranged in a crescent shape,” said Rios. “Panels measuring five metres by two metres are joined using custom steel channels, creating soaring interconnected A-frames.”
Rios designed the installation in collaboration with supply platform Cambium, mass timber supplier Sterling Structural and mass timber engineers Minimal Impact Engineering.
Small lights run along the perimeter of the pavilion and underneath its peaks to create a “warm glow”.
“At the heart of the installation, a warm glow invites visitors into an intimate interior that functions both as inhabitable artwork and as functional furniture,” said the studio.
“These thoughtfully designed elements showcase the aesthetic appeal of structural CLT as an interior finish, demonstrating how mass timber can create strikingly impressive, visually warm, and inviting spaces.”
Campfire was presented at the International Mass Timber Conference in Oregon. The organisation was founded to promote and explore the use of cross-laminted timber and other mass timber products.
In recent years, mass timber has risen in popularity within the building industry for its sustainable properties. It is often employed as a structural system, such as in an elementary school in Vancouver designed by HCMA and an office building in Mexico by PPAA, one of the country’s first structures predominantly made of the material.
The photography is by James Giller
The Mass Timber Conference ran from 25 to 27 March in Oregon, USA. For more international events in architecture and design please visit Dezeen Events Guide.
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