City studio gets in on Milan Expo
A TEAM from BDP is providing key elements of the UK Pavilion which will represent the nation on the world stage at the Milan Expo this month until October 31.
The Manchester studio of BDP has provided landscape, architectural and environmental engineering expertise to the Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress, who won the competition to design the UK Pavilion for the 2015 Universal Expo.
The structure is inspired by the unique role of the honeybee. UK Pavilion visitors walk through a fruit orchard and enter a natural wildflower meadow.
As they near the centre of the meadow, the focal point of the structure comes into view: a golden orb made of fine steel lattice based on the design of a honeycomb. The ‘Hive’ pulsates and buzzes with the noise of a real bee colony.
James Millington, landscape architect at BDP said: “We are thrilled to be part of Wolfgang Buttress’ team helping to deliver this exciting and highly sustainable project – a true collaboration between landscape and art that aims to highlight the decline of the world’s bee population and the importance of pollination to the production of food.”
BDP Manchester studio chairman Gavin Elliott said: “It’s really exciting to be involved in this amazing project, which builds on work we’ve done previously for Shanghai Expo and the Manchester International Festival.
“The themes of sustainability, ecology and biodiversity sit well with BDP’s own expertise – and with the bee being the traditional symbol of the city, part of the UK Pavilion will definitely be made in Manchester.”
British companies Stage One and structural engineer Tristan Simmonds have been awarded the £6m contract to build the winning design.
