Lousiana Pavallion

Louisiana Pavilion developed by the R&D department GXN of 3XN architects wins JEC Innovation Award 2010, the largest international award for the composite design field. The pavilion is based on a composite of a sandwich laminate with biological and reusable materials.

The vision of the project has been to create an energy-self-sufficient sustainable pavilion using bio-based materials that can both belong to and decompose in the biological cycle after use.  The green pavilion is three meters high, eight meters long and five meters wide. It is constructed like a surfboard, in which traditional fibreglass composites are substituted with a bio composite developed for this specific project.

The composite is made from cork sheets and woven flax fibres cast in a bio resin partly made from corn flour and soya beans. The inner core is made of sheets of cork. The gel coat is covered by a two nano products that breaks down pollution particles from the air and rain using sunlight, and gives the surface self-cleaning properties (Nano-X). The pavilion contains an integrated LED lighting system powered by piezoelectric actuators in the floor and bendable solar panels on the roof. The result illustrates just how far bio-composites have come in an architectural application based on commercially available components.

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