BDP Manchester joins UK Pavilion team for Milan Expo
A team from architect BDP in Manchester is advising on the construction of a UK Pavilion to represent the nation's art, design and engineering expertise at the Milan Expo 2015.
The Manchester studio of BDP will provide landscape, architectural and environmental engineering expertise to the Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress, who won the competition to design the UK Pavilion.
British companies Stage One and RISE have been awarded the £6m contract to build the design.
BDP said in its design statement that the structure is inspired by the unique role of the honeybee.
Once the UK Pavilion is built, visitors will 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 will come into view, a golden orb made of fine steel lattice based on the design of a honeycomb.
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."
