Carmody Groarke was selected in a two-stage invited competition organised by The Architecture Foundation on behalf of British Land plc for the new Osnaburgh Street Pavilion in Regent's Place, London. The competition called for a new pavilion to beautify and intensify the entrance to the new East-West connection to Osnaburgh Street. Its role was both to mark a significant entrance to the Regent's Place development, and to enrich the public experience of the open space at street level.
The winning concept for the pavilion by Carmody Groarke, winners of the 2007 Young Architect of the Year Award, proposed a pavilion as an ornamental field of rods supporting a canopy eight metres above the streetscape. Pathways are defined within the pavilion by removing clusters of the rod structure, creating generous spaces and seating areas. These pathways reveal various densities of golden vertical rods that shimmer in sunlight by day and contain intense projected light by night, generating a visual moiré effect for passers-by.
The concept would then be developed with British Land to clearly mark each end of Soane Street from both its approaches and to enrich the experience of movement through the new avenue as part of the Osnaburgh Street development adjacent to Sir John Soane's Church.
Adrian Penfold of British Land stated that "The Farrell masterplan for our Regent's Place estate is providing the opportunity for established architects, such as Farrells themselves, Munkenbeck and Marshall, and Wilkinson Eyre, as well as a much smaller and younger practice, Carmody Groarke, to design high quality buildings in a well planned environment. Carmody Groarke have responded to that challenge to produce a design for the pavilion which is innovative and visually compelling."
The design of the winning pavilion, and the short-listed designs by Ian McChesney, Niall McLaughlin, Newbetter, Proctor Rihl and Surface formed The Regent's Place Pavilion exhibition at New London Architecture from the 6th to 20th December 2007.
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