Project of the month: UK pavilion at the World Expo Milan 2015

It is split into five sections through which visitors will progress: first is an orchard of British fruit trees; then there is a wildflower meadow, followed by a terrace, before the heart of the pavilion – a golden “beehive”. The final space is a public auditorium below the terrace that will be used for events during the expo.

The centrepiece of the pavilion is a 14 cubic metre lattice structure made from 169,300 aluminium components. The elements were fabricated at Stage One’s factory in Tockwith, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, before being numbered and shipped to Italy, for assembly.

The lattice form has a spherical void hollowed from its centre to allow visitors to enter the “golden orb” and experience being within a beehive. Audio-visual devices within the structure are digitally linked to real hives, so the space buzzes with the sounds of living bees.

This year’s pavilion follows Heatherwick Studio’s acclaimed “Seed Cathedral”, which represented the UK at the Shanghai Expo in 2010 and won the gold prize for best design at the trade fair.