Matt+Fiona works with local children to create Reflect pavilion in London

Architecture educator Matt+Fiona worked with local young people to create this steel pavilion and performance space in Camden, London, which is topped with angled mirrors that reflect its surroundings.

Aptly named Reflect, the pavilion was created by architect Matthew Springett and educator Fiona MacDonald, who work together as Matt+Fiona, with a group of 18 "young placemakers" tasked with designing a steel-framed play space.

It was delivered in collaboration with landscape architects LDA Design and local charity Fitzrovia Youth in Action.

"The Young Placemakers took the brief and truly made it their own, thinking of play in its loosest sense, integrating ideas about playable landscape and play as performance," co-founder Springett told Dezeen.

"This resulted in the playful but unconventional Reflect, which uses its mirrored surfaces to encourage audiences to play and be part of performances," he added.

Reflect is the centrepiece of the National Temperance Hospital Gardens near Euston Station, designed by LDA Design as a meanwhile use for a former HS2 construction compound after the project was paused in March 2023.

The tower-like, blue-steel frame of the Reflect pavilion shelters a stepped stage and seating at ground level. Above, its upper section supports angled panels of polished stainless steel, which create distorted reflections of the garden below.

These mirrored panels are accompanied by wavy, zigzagging and perforated sections of blue-steel and timber, used to cast shadows that change throughout the day.

"During material testing workshops, the young people explored various effects by playing with south-facing light and layering materials such as perforated, reflective and shaped surfaces," said Matt+Fiona's programme manager Jon Shmulevitch.

"The mirrors offer distorted views of the entire area depending on where the viewer is standing in the garden, providing a new perspective on the surrounding HS2 works," he added.

Rising above the hoarding that wraps part of the site, Reflect was intended not only as a performance and play space, but also as a "beacon" to declare the site's new use to the local community and passers-by.

Steel was chosen both to bring durability to the structure and to make it easy to relocate once the meanwhile space is developed, with current plans for the structure to be rehomed at the nearby Regent's Park Estate once work on HS2 recommences.

Matt+Fiona often engages children and young people in its architectural projects, with previous examples including a series of temporary performance structures for Brixton House Theatre intended to help students learn practical construction skills.

Other pavilions recently featured on Dezeen include a black-timber structure designed by Aptdotapt as a rest stop for hikers on a mountain in China and a gathering space built by Lanza Atelier with wood and steel in Mexico City.

The photography is by Nick Turpin.

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