Universal Design Studio unveiled its first public architectural pavilion for London Design Festival, a standalone project in collaboration with London-based co-working company The Office Group.

The concept for On Repeat derived from the ability of visual pattern and physical repetition to induce a state of mind known as open awareness; a form of attention achieved by the repetition of manual tasks which allows creative thinking to flourish.

Hannah Carter-Owers, Director at Universal Design Studio, comments: “Our ambition was to contribute a thoughtful example of social architecture to the festival. We wanted to design an environment that requires human engagement to be fully built, and to fulfil its purpose, but also that physically represents the idea being explored, in this case, repetition.”

The pavilion’s form physically manifests repetition in its architecture, but also through a collaborative installation of hundreds of paper forms, the components of which require manual assembly by visitors over the course of the festival.

It’s three key design elements included: a simple elongated timber shell set between two buildings, embodying the project’s theme of repetition; a ceiling installation formed from repetitive paper forms, which transforms the space for the different events held within; and a central table, which serves as the focal point at which the group activities will take place.

Paul Gulati, Associate Director, Universal Design Studio, adds: “As architects, our interest in repetition stems from the act of making and re-making, in the iterative design process and the aesthetic potential of following a simple rule. Our collaboration with TOG has resulted in a pavilion that embodies the power of frequency in its form and programming. This holistic approach will help our minds wander into a daydreaming state by providing an environment to encourage serendipitous associations.”

Throughout London Design Festival, On Repeat hosted a programme of free events and workshops that explored the power of frequency and repetition, designed to give visitors the opportunity to temporarily depart from everyday work life and reach a free-flowing mind-set.

Activities held during the week are engaged visitors in an array of repetitive manual tasks from sushi making, to meditative breathing, to woodcutting, while a series of talks investigated the impact of repetition on our brains, bodies and lives.

“We love the idea of using this piece of architecture to explore how the human elements to where we work are so important. The idea of repetition and letting the mind escape from work will, we hope, illustrate how we all need different environments to work within and how having that choice can make us more creative and ultimately more productive,” concludes Charlie Green, co-founder at The Office Group.

www.universaldesignstudio.com