Trade show pavilion transformed into furniture for rural Chinese community

Furniture Pavilion S is a modular structure that Rooi Design and Research created for a Chinese trade show, before recycling its plywood body into chairs and tables.

The temporary structure was developed as an easily dismantlable and sustainable showroom for a brand exhibiting at Shanghai International Furniture Fair in 2019.

A year on, Rooi Design and Research has transformed its structure into furniture for a community in rural China, with the aim of demonstrating how trade shows can be made more eco-friendly by employing the principles of a circular economy.

"In today's world of rapid business development, many exhibitors construct temporary showrooms, but after the exhibition, the showroom's construction waste and materials cannot be cleaned properly and recycled, which causes a lot of unnecessary waste and pollution," explained Rooi Design and Research.

"In response to this, at the Shanghai International Furniture Fair 2019, Rooi Design and Research has developed an outdoor independent pavilion," the studio continued. "This has allowed us to unveil a brand new comprehensive and sustainable design solution."

The main structure of Furniture Pavilion S measured 150-square-metres and was composed of stacks of modular plywood units that doubled as display coves, supported by steel.

It was a deliberately simple design, created for ease of recycling as well as rapid assembly and deconstruction to reduce building time and costs.

A total of 821 pieces of 1.22-by-1.22-metre plywood sheets were used, chosen by the studio as the material is recyclable and one of "the most familiar materials in furniture manufacturing".

The stacked arrangement of the displays allowed visitors to view the furniture from various angles, while their depth helped reduced solar heat gain inside, where a seating area was added to maximise the pavilion's usability.

"The complexity should be left in the design and technique of the building process while giving the audience an impression that is clear and easy to understand, and bright and eco-friendly to the city," explained the studio.

"The biggest advantage of this design is that it is simple to construct and can be fully assembled within 48 hours, which drastically minimises time and construction costs."

To demonstrate their concept, Rooi Design and Research has now recycled the pavilion and transformed its plywood body into 410 sets of tables and chairs for a small rural community in Fuqing.

Like its predecessor, the collection is modular, with each piece given geometric shapes that can be playfully slotted together with others to make different configurations.

Rooi Design and Research hopes the project will inform more sustainable trade show design and that the furniture will facilitate interaction between people in the rural community.

"In regards to the interpersonal relationships in the small rural communities, the architect has designed the furniture which can be combined into different forms to increase the interactivity and fun, at the same time enrich the community activities," concluded the studio.

Rooi Design and Research was founded in 2018 in Cape Town and established offices in Beijing and Shenzhen office a year later.

Other temporary structures on Dezeen that are also recyclable include the RAUM pavilion in Utrecht by Overtreders W and a two-storey pavilion for BBC Studios by Universal Design Studio and Giles Miller Studio.

Photography is by Feng Shao and Ming Chen.

Project credits:

Architect: Rooi Design and Research
Client: Side Furniture
Chief designer: Zuoqian Wang
Structural design: Song Wang
Videography: Ming Chen

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