The Pavilion

The pavilion serves as an information and pastoral centre for parishioners and visitors to a historic cathedral, with a reception, bookshop and gift shop. In such a symbolic setting, the Vietnamese design team had to manage a dialogue between old and new and carry the religious spirit of the place without repeating its symbols.

The design works through pairs of opposites: high and low, solid and hollow, main and secondary, heavy and light, visible and hidden. Built mainly of glass and steel, the long structure weaves its canopy through the existing trees, almost all of which were kept, so the building recedes and the cathedral stays the main presence.

The long, low volume and its wide canopy stress continuity, part otherworldly and part drawn from traditional northern architecture. Its outer shell balances the wish to minimise its bulk with the need for enough service space, and the project also reflects a view on caring for the landscape and heritage around it.