Events pavilion for the San Barbato Resort, designed by AMDL CIRCLE: project management and supervision of the timber and steel structures.
Set in the natural landscape of Monte Vulture in Basilicata, the San Barbato Pavilion is a building dedicated to parties and events that completes the hospitality project of the San Barbato Resort. Heptagonal in plan, its form traces the profile of a volcanic cone and culminates in a skylight that opens like a crater. And just like a volcano, the Pavilion is meant to be a source of energy released by human relationships.
The building consists of a service basement and a large, barrier-free main hall at ground level that can host up to 400 guests: a highly flexible space that can be reconfigured for parties, exhibitions, concerts, show-cooking and any other kind of gathering or cultural activity. A connecting corridor leads to the adjacent service building with its open kitchens, while the outdoor terrace clad in local stone lies in front of the main entrance. An elevated footbridge crosses the road and links the Pavilion to the Resort’s entrance area: the shades of its Corten steel deck and the transparency of its glass balustrade blend naturally with the colours of the landscape.
To increase energy efficiency, ensure sustainability and optimise construction time and costs, AMDL CIRCLE designed a prefabricated modular structure made of seven identical segments forming the heptagonal volume. The primary structure consists of seven paired columns and as many ceiling beams converging towards the glazed skylight; the secondary framework, with a lozenge pattern, reduces the depth of the beams and lightens the visual impact of the structure. All elements are in exposed larch wood. Along the perimeter, the Pavilion is enclosed by timber mullion walls with glass infills, whose transparency visually connects inside and outside so that guests can feel in touch with nature.
On the roof, seven sloping titanium-zinc modules recall the slopes of the volcano: the large opening at the ridge evokes a rift in the earth’s crust through which zenithal light enters to illuminate the hall, while at nightfall artificial light pours out of the rift, recreating the effect of lava.
Text: AMDL CIRCLE — amdlcircle.com