Students from the University of British Columbia designed the Wander Wood pavilion, an installation with an adaptable design-to-fabrication system which was constructed by a robot.

The temporary installation is located at the campus of the University of British Columbia. It was constructed in three days using a state-of-the-art eight axis industrial robot. The pavilion aims to demonstrate how old materials and new technologies can reshape the built environment.

Parametric design and robotic fabrication are new technologies that allow high performance and complex architectural structures to be built. Wood can easily be shaped and milled with robotic cutting tools. Thanks to these techniques, the pavilion can be customised to suit local material availability and fabrication tools.

This experimental structure demonstrates the new capabilities of the technology to develop innovative material applications that harness the unique properties of wood to animate public spaces.

The Wander Wood pavilion is the result of the Robot Made: Large-Scale Robotic Timber Fabrication in Architecture workshop, hosted by School of Architecture and Landscape Architects (SALA) and UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing from October 13-17. The workshop was led by David Correa of the University of Waterloo, Oliver David Krieg of LWPAC, and SALA professor AnnaLisa Meyboom. The pavilion was constructed by 15 students and 21 industry participants.

Photo: UBC