Southwark’s new hidden pavilion is ahead of the curve
We visit the recently completed Southwark Park Pavilion in South London, a small structure that punches well above its weight, courtesy of Bell Phillips Architects

It’s the mark of a good piece of architecture when the building in question, despite being new, feels like it’s always been there. Southwark Park Pavilion, the latest addition to the 151-year-old park in South East London is doing just that.
Designed by Bell Philips Architects (BPA), the pavilion opened to the public last week as part of a soft launch (the official opening is in February). Yet despite the overcast and chilly January climate, the pavilion is already busy with parents, prams and puppies making the most of the new local café.
Its immediate success is no doubt down to its location: a modest, single storey structure, the pavilion wraps around the park’s lake with a sweeping curved façade, which includes a generous amount of glazing and an open area to facilitate views over the water. It’s not the most romantic of landscapes by any stretch — there’s an empty, shelled out tower looming over the park — but for this pocket of South East London, it’s a welcome gesture that maximizes all that’s around it.
This is no accident, of course. The pavilion is part of a wider masterplan from Kinnear Landscape Architects and it serves as an anchor and threshold for numerous aspects of the park: a refurbished play area to the north, open parkland to the south and most importantly the lake to the west.
Clad in brick with a protective white cementitious coating, the pavilion is easily spotted among the greenery and, while only being just over four metres high, is naturally the park’s focal point. Along with being seen, the pavilion can be seen through, too. Glazing on the south side and another opening to the east ensures transparency, with sightlines onto the lake being prioritised. ‘We wanted to make an intervention that enhanced the park and connected it with the lake. The lake, up until now, was sort of forgotten,' says Hari Phillips, director and founder at BPA.
Wander around Southwark Park Pavilion looking for a straight wall, however, and you’ll be hard pressed to find one; all six external walls are curved. According to Phillips, the pavilion’s concave form emerged in response to the meandering pathways and sinuous landscape it’s surrounded by. As well as the lake, the building lies adjacent to the former Southwark Park Oval cricket pitch, once home to Surrey Cricket Club before it moved to the Oval in Kennington. ‘We started out with a volume and nibbled out circular geometries, then pulled the pavilion into shape around the lake,' adds Phillips.
At 285 sq m, the pavilion also hosts park offices, toilets and offers bin storage facilities alongside the cafe. These less sexy parts are neatly tucked away into the corners of the building, while photovoltaic panels and the building’s mechanical and engineering services, have been hidden on the roof, allowing the café and the lake view it boasts to be the pavilion’s main attraction.
As a result, the pavilion is more about what’s around it than itself. This isn’t a flashy, attention demanding building, far from it, and Southwark Park is all the better for it too. Rather than attempting to shout louder than the landscape it inhabits, the pavilion gracefully unites its surroundings and provides a welcome set of park amenities in the process.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
MoMA names Christophe Cherix its new director
The Swiss-born curator has worked in the Museum of Modern Art’s drawings and prints department since 2007
By Anna Fixsen Published
-
The Yale Center for British Art, Louis Kahn’s final project, glows anew after a two-year closure
After years of restoration, a modernist jewel and a treasure trove of British artwork can be seen in a whole new light
By Anna Fixsen Published
-
How Le Corbusier defined modernism
Le Corbusier was not only one of 20th-century architecture's leading figures but also a defining father of modernism, as well as a polarising figure; here, we explore the life and work of an architect who was influential far beyond his field and time
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Are Derwent London's new lounges the future of workspace?
Property developer Derwent London’s new lounges – created for tenants of its offices – work harder to promote community and connection for their users
By Emily Wright Published
-
Showing off its gargoyles and curves, The Gradel Quadrangles opens in Oxford
The Gradel Quadrangles, designed by David Kohn Architects, brings a touch of playfulness to Oxford through a modern interpretation of historical architecture
By Shawn Adams Published
-
A Norfolk bungalow has been transformed through a deft sculptural remodelling
North Sea East Wood is the radical overhaul of a Norfolk bungalow, designed to open up the property to sea and garden views
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A new concrete extension opens up this Stoke Newington house to its garden
Architects Bindloss Dawes' concrete extension has brought a considered material palette to this elegant Victorian family house
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A former garage is transformed into a compact but multifunctional space
A multifunctional, compact house by Francesco Pierazzi is created through a unique spatial arrangement in the heart of the Surrey countryside
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A 1960s North London townhouse deftly makes the transition to the 21st Century
Thanks to a sensitive redesign by Studio Hagen Hall, this midcentury gem in Hampstead is now a sustainable powerhouse.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Manchester United and Foster + Partners to build a new stadium: ‘Arguably the largest public space in the world’
The football club will spend £2 billion on the ambitious project, which co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has described as the ‘world's greatest football stadium’
By Anna Solomon Published
-
An architect’s own home offers a refined and leafy retreat from its East London surroundings
Studioshaw has completed a courtyard house in amongst a cluster of traditional terraced houses, harnessing the sun and plenty of greenery to bolster privacy and warmth
By Jonathan Bell Published