The flax filament lattices connect by way of bolts to the CLT panels.
A riverfront horticultural complex located in the south German city of Wangen im Allgäu, in the Alpine foothills, centers on a strikingly curvaceous pavilion. Hybrid Flax Pavilion, the 4,090-square-foot structure, which serves as an exhibition hall for the region’s local garden show, or landesgartenschau, was a collaborative effort between two University of Stuttgart institutes and the school’s Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture (aka IntCDC), which leverages cross-disciplinary research to innovate digitally driven building and fabrication methods—in this case, the pavilion’s roof.
To create the wavelike element, the team piloted a hybrid system that utilizes bio-based materials and cutting-edge technologies, resulting in a unique take on regenerative design. Supported by the facade’s steel structure, thin plates of cross-laminated timber are reinforced with filament derived from flax, a fiber historically processed by the region’s textile industry. (In fact, the town’s old flax-spinning mill was renovated as part of the complex.) The gray-brown filament was wound via robotic arms around screws bolted into the edges of the CNC-milled plates, which are just 4.7 inches thick—much thinner than typical CLT beams hewn from old-growth timber, and thus enabling use of younger trees and locally available reserves.
How Two University Of Stuttgart Institutes Created Hybrid Flax Pavilion
The roof underside flaunts the pavilion’s unique hybrid structure of locally sourced materials: cross-laminated timber plates reinforced with flax-fiber filament. Photography by: © Icd/itke/intcdc University of Stuttgart.
A tree in the open-air central climate garden provides leafy shade and evaporative cooling in warmer months.
Leveraging the properties of both materials yielded a lightweight structure with enhanced performance. The flax-fiber weave primarily bears tension loads and shear forces, while the wood panels manage compression forces directed to the steel columns. Together, they provide the strength and stiffness necessary to bear the area’s heavy snow loads. The hybrid system, says architect and IntCDC senior researcher Monika Göbel, “creates a flat, stable building envelope, even though the roof looks dynamic and round.”
The circular glass facade beckons visitors into the column-free space from all directions and promotes an indoor/outdoor connection, while the curved roofline, intentionally echoing the rhythm of the nearby Argen River, creates interior zones of varying heights. In the center of the donut-shaped pavilion is a climate garden, which invites cross-ventilation and evaporative cooling in warmer months when the doors are open. The floor slab, made from recycled concrete and carbon-reduced cement, is part of a geothermal system programmed to maintain a comfortable indoor air temperature year-round.
Walk Through This Wavelike Pavilion In Germany
The building’s curvatures echo the winding banks of the nearby Argen River.
The flax filament lattices connect by way of bolts to the CLT panels.
Custom seating units, a collaboration with Stuttgart-based Atelier Brückner, furnish the interior.
Undulations in the roofline create interior zones of varying loftiness; recycled concrete and carbon-reduced cement compose the floor.
Located on the grounds of a horticultural complex, the pavilion was assembled on-site in eight days from prefabricated roof components.
PROJECT SOURCES THROUGHOUT HA-CO CARBON: FIBER FABRICATION. STERK ABBUNDZENTRUM: WOOD ROOF. FOWATEC: GLASS FACADE. BIEDENKAPP STAHLBAU: STEEL. HARALD KLEIN ERDBEWEGUNGEN: FOUNDATION, HEATING. ATELIER BRÜCKNER: CUSTOM FURNITURE. BELZNER HOLMES LIGHT-DESIGN; BIB CONCEPT; COLLINS+KNIEPS VERMESSUNGSINGENIEURE; MORÄNE; SPEKTRUM BAUPHYSIK & BAUÖKOLOGIE; WEBER BONEBERG MEROTH BERATENDE INGENIEURE; LOHRER.HOCHREIN: ENGINEERS. ARGE-LEISTUNGSBEREICH WÄRMEVERSORGUNGS-UND MITTELSPANNANLAGEN FRANZ MILLER OHG; STAUBER + STEIB: CONSTRUCTION.