Quarry Pavilion

An open shelter of two thin roof plates and slim columns, set on a stone plinth on the floor of a disused chalk quarry.

Location

Kent, England

Year

2025

Area

153 m²

Status

Completed

Client

A local authority

Team

Jonas Berg, Tom Ashby

Context

The quarry closed decades ago and has since grown into a nature reserve with a footpath along its rim. Walkers, school groups and a local birdwatching society asked for somewhere dry to stop, eat lunch and look at the cut face of the chalk. The floor of the quarry floods after heavy rain, so the new building had to sit above water level and avoid any wall that would trap debris. The authority also needed a structure that could be left unattended overnight, without heating or glazing to maintain, and one that would not compete with the quarry wall behind it.

Concept

We reduced the building to a roof and a floor. A stone plinth lifts the platform 400 millimetres above the wet ground and carries two steps to the south and a long bench along the back. Two thin roof plates sit on slim columns at about five-metre centres, and a small service core holds storage and a composting toilet. There are no walls, so the pavilion is open on every side and the light changes with the sky. The roof plates are offset by a short gap, which lets daylight fall on the bench and gives the pavilion a clear section when seen from the path.

Construction

The plinth is cast in-situ concrete faced with chalk stone recovered from the site, laid dry and pinned back. The columns are hot-dip galvanised steel, welded and bolted on site, and each roof plate is a steel frame with a plywood deck and a standing-seam zinc finish. Rainwater leaves through a single scupper at each corner into gravel soakaways, which keeps the quarry floor free of channels. The service core is masonry with a green roof. No mechanical systems are used, and a small photovoltaic panel runs the lighting.