The firm that built Thomas Heatherwick’s Olympic Cauldron is partnering with the ex-Mace team at Rise to deliver the UK pavilion at Milan Expo 2015.
Main contractor Stage One and construction management consultancy Rise formed a “strategic alliance” to win the prestigious £6m contract to build the pavilion, designed by Nottingham-based artist Wolfgang Buttress.
Stage One will be responsible for fabricating the structure at its production facility in York, and Rise will act as project manager. The team will also include architecture firm BDP and structural consultant Simmonds Studio.
A spokesperson for Stage One said the two firms have “formed a partnership on this scheme and worked on other pitches before and will do so again, but it’s not an exclusive arrangement”.
Wolfgang Buttress’s competition-winning design was announced by HRH Prince Harry at an event in Rome. The artist beat off submissions from a host of architect-led teams including AHMM, Asif Khan and Amanda Levete.
The focal point of Wolfgang Buttress’s design will be an orb-like structure called The Hive, which will buzz with the sounds of a real bee colony.
His design embraces the Expo theme of “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” and will explore how creativity, science and technology combine to tackle these issues. The focal point will be a delicate, orb-like structure called The Hive, which will pulsate and buzz with the sounds of a real bee colony.
Stage One and Rise previously teamed up to deliver the 2013 pavilion at London’s Serpentine Gallery, a cloud-shaped steel structure designed by Sou Fujimoto comprising 8km of steel tubing cut into 27,000 lengths.
In 2012, Stage One also brought the polished copper petals of Thomas Heatherwick’s Cauldron to life for the London Olympics, and it is involved in delivering projects for this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Rise was set up three years ago by two of the industry’s best known figures, Bob White and Ian Eggers, a former chief executive and a construction boss at Mace.
After winning the Milan bid, Bob White, chairman at Rise said: “We are very excited to be involved in the UK Pavilion at Milan Expo. It enables us to sustain our particular interest in temporary structures, and allows us to continue our collaboration with Stage One on these project types. The design of the Pavilion includes some innovative structural solutions which, allied with the focal attraction of the ‘Hive’, will delight the discerning visitor.”
Mark Johnson, managing director of Stage One said: “This is a significant project for Stage One and reflects our increasingly strong relationship with architects and designers. It’s a strong validation of our collaborative approach and our ability to deliver creative construction projects successfully.”
Wolfgang Buttress opened his first studio in Nottingham after graduating in 1987 and now employs seven people. Over the last two years he has won numerous national and international awards, including the International Structural Steel Award for projects under £2m in 2013. Earlier this year he received the Kajima Gold Award in Japan for his work “Space”.
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