C-Shore is a pavilion that relates material ecologies to design. The pavilion, which is constructed of timber milled from trees reclaimed from a nearby residential construction site, offers a multi-sensory space of respite and relaxation at the heart of the busy university campus. After three years, the pavilion will be dismantled and the timber used to construct planter boxes that support ecological curriculum at local primary schools. The project was designed and constructed by graduate students at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

The pavilion design is informed by material processes and ecologies. The stacked wall assemblies ensure adequate airflow to dry the freshly milled cedar timbers while providing a cool microclimate infused with the scent of drying cedar. An adjustable clamping system accommodates shrinkage as the timbers dry and allows efficient disassembly at the end of the project. The opacity of the stacked walls varies with the perspective of the viewer, creating dynamic interactions between interior and exterior punctuated by variegated bands of daylight and shadow. The pavilion interior resonates with sounds recorded in the forest ecosystem before, during, and after tree felling took place, drawing links between the pavilion and the vanished ecosystem that provided its material. The pavilion uses material processes and ecological links as a point of departure for design.

C-Shore addresses architecture's relationship with resource consumption by highlighting ecological origins of materials and designing for full life cycles. Expanding the boundaries of design to include upstream material processes and end-of-life considerations has the potential to deepen understanding of architectural materials, transforming products selected from cut sheets and catalogues into materials inextricably linked to environments, geographies, and processes. This approach replaces tired paradigms of scarcity with the material abundance characteristic of natural systems, building more nuanced relationships between materials and the natural and hybrid ecologies from which they are drawn.

C-Shore is a pavilion that relates material ecologies to design. The pavilion, which is constructed of timber milled from trees reclaimed from a nearby residential construction site, offers a multi-sensory space of respite and relaxation at the heart of the busy university campus. After three years, the pavilion will be disassembled and the timber used to construct planter boxes that support ecological curriculum at local primary schools. The project was designed and constructed by graduate students at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

The pavilion provides a space for casual relaxation, reconciling the need for private respite with openness and accessibility. The porous wall shoring ensures adequate airflow to dry the freshly milled cedar timbers under ambient conditions, creating a cool microclimate infused with the scent of drying cedar. The opacity of the walls varies with the angle of view, creating dynamic interactions between interior and exterior characterized by variegated bands of daylight and shadow. The pavilion is secured with an adjustable clamping system that accommodates the shrinkage as the timbers dry and allows for efficient disassembly at the end of the project.

C-Shore applies the hands-on experiential nature of design build pedagogies to deepen student's understanding of the relationship of architecture to its constituent materials. The course aims to draw links to the local ecologies from which raw materials are drawn, encouraging students to find design opportunities in material flows that account for the full lifecycle of architecture.

The project took place over two terms. During the Fall, architecture and landscape architecture students documented an existing stand of trees near campus that were slated to be removed for a housing development. They selected trees, calculated available timber, and met with various stakeholders. Research included studying arborist reports, which was followed by measuring and cataloging trees on the site. Students met with experts from the Faculty of Forestry and the Centre for Advanced Wood Processing to learn about milling and drying considerations, and visited timber component production facilities. Concurrent with the site investigations, students studied design precedents of temporary pavilions by Peter Zumthor, Frei Otto, Alfredo Jaar, Interboro Partners, Peter Pichler, Ben Butler, Thilo Frank, Rintala Eggertsson, and others. During the iterative design phase, students worked collaboratively to design a pavilion scaled to their calculations of available timber. The design was developed through sketching, physical and digital modeling, and mockup construction of key members, Students presented design schemes to campus community groups and other project stakeholders, as well as technical experts as the project evolved.

Students produced a set of construction documents at the end of the Fall term. During the Spring, students used the drawing set to gain the necessary engineering approvals and project permitting. During the Spring, logs were transported to the mill, where they were sawn according to specifications and delivered to the site prior to construction in June.

During design development, the students developed mill specifications, and studied timber design precedents. In the Spring, eight students continued on to construct the project during a seven week long intensive course in the Spring. Due to the collaborative nature of the work during the design and construction phases, peer evaluation was used to measure individual contributions.

The design accounted for end of life considerations. After three years, the pavilion will be disassembled. The seasoned cedar timber will be provided to local elementary schools, where they will be used to construct garden planter boxes that will support existing ecology curriculum. The foundation will remain in the ground to be used for future design-build courses.

In a parallel collaboration a sound artist, worked with students in the UBC Geography Department to record the sounds of the forest ecosystem before, during, and after the tree felling took place. The finished pavilion resonates with these acoustic recordings on set intervals, drawing links between the pavilion and the vanished ecosystem that was cleared to make way for the housing project.

Cedar contains natural preservatives that are toxic to the microbes that produce rot. The intoxicating smell of freshly cut cedar spread across the campus during construction, lending the project a multisensory presence beyond the visible. The smell gradually diminished until it was palpable only to visitors who venture inside.

According to the UN, the built environment today consumes 40% of all resources. C-Shore attempts to address architecture's sometimes complicit relationship with resource consumption by highlighting ecological origins, using material flows as design opportunities, and engaging the full lifecycle of architecture. Approaching design in this way has the potential to deepen student understanding of architectural materiality, transforming items to be selected from cut sheets and catalogues into materials inextricably linked to environments, geographies, and processes.

Expanding the boundaries of design to include upstream material processes and end-of-life considerations has the potential to replace tired paradigms of scarcity with the material abundance characteristic of natural systems. In the context of the contemporary ecological crisis, these methods also have the potential to build more nuanced relationships between materials and the natural and hybrid ecologies from which they are drawn, reducing or even reversing the ecological impacts of architecture.