An earth-bermed timber pavilion set in the hills east of Pujiang, the Pujiang Platform reconstructs a lost contour while choreographing movement and views across Chengdu’s plains to the Qionglai Mountains. A sequence of earth-covered arches forms a telescopic interior that terminates at a 10-metre-high north-facing window and a projecting balcony, coupling event functions with a measured presence in the landscape.
Pujiang Platform Technical Information
- Architects: MVRDV
- Location: Pujiang, China
- Gross Area: 414 m2 | 4,456 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2022 – 2025
- Photographs: © Arch-Exist
The hills of this region are truly a spectacular sight, so one of the challenges we faced was to make the most of those views while reducing the impact on the landscape. By adding a hill-shaped pavilion with a green roof we not only minimise our own impact, but we recreated the hill that was there before. This act of preserving and respecting nature is the essence of the design, which is continued in the construction approach, using bio-based materials such as wood that are more sustainable and thus have less impact on natural environments such as this one.
– Jacob van Rijs
Landscape Reconstruction and Site Strategy
The project reinstates a hillside that had been flattened for a former lookout by embedding a timber pavilion within an earth berm. The berm reconstitutes the missing contour and visually absorbs the structure into the slope, limiting the mass that reads against the skyline. Vegetation continues across the roof, further merging architecture and terrain while maintaining clear circulation and safety at the ridge.
Rather than impose a new network, the design consolidates existing paths into a loop. A twisting stair stitches the levels and culminates in a circular secondary platform, distributing visitors across multiple destinations. This dispersal reduces erosion pressure along any single route and offers varied durations and vantages, from close readings of local ecologies to long views over Pujiang and the mountain range beyond.
The landmark effect is calibrated rather than amplified. During daylight, the earth cover and planted roof mute the pavilion’s profile. At night, the north-facing aperture functions as a legible signal from the plains without adding extraneous bulk or height, keeping the intervention legible at the territorial scale while recessive at the immediate site.
Telescopic Form and Timber Structure
A succession of earth-covered arches shapes the pavilion as a telescopic volume. The geometry compresses at entry and gradually expands toward a 10-metre-high glazed opening, concluding in a balcony that projects over the slope. This sectional strategy directs attention outward while maintaining a clear internal datum, using geometry rather than ornament to choreograph movement and focus.
The primary structure is timber, selected to lower embodied carbon and to foreground wood’s viability for public architecture in a context where its large-scale adoption remains limited. The repeated arch typology provides a rational load path for earth cover and roof planting, with transverse ribs and longitudinal members resisting soil and wind loads while maintaining a slender interior rhythm. The earth build-up requires robust waterproofing and drainage layers to separate the bio-based structure from moisture and root penetration.
At the north end, oversized sliding panels pocket away, dissolving the glazed plane. This mechanism extends the floor plate onto the balcony, reinforcing the volume’s directional clarity and turning the view into an occupied threshold rather than a distant picture. The continuity of ceiling and soffit lines across the opening underscores the pavilion’s telescopic reading even in open configuration.
Program and Spatial Experience
A discreet south-east opening in the berm admits visitors into the main hall. Inside, the roof rises as the floor descends, creating a built-in tribune directed to the landscape. The stepped geometry supports talks, informal gatherings, and seated viewing without adding loose furniture, while the slope maintains a consistent sightline to the exterior horizon.
The main hall and balcony operate as a single elastic room. With the end façade open, the boundary shifts outward to accommodate seasonal spillover and larger assemblies. When closed, the north glazing still provides a calibrated frame, and the interior volume retains acoustic and climatic control for smaller events. The program remains legible regardless of configuration because the section, rather than equipment, defines the room’s behavior.
Complementing the singular framed view, the circular lookout at the stair apex offers 360-degree observation. The two vantage types work in tandem: one curates a stable axial perspective, while the other invites panoramic scanning of proximate vegetation, topography, and distant mountains. This pairing encourages multiple readings of the site, from territorial orientation to ecological detail.
Environmental Strategies and Building Systems
The earth berm and a 100 mm vegetated roof add insulation and thermal mass, moderating diurnal swings and reducing peak loads. The primary glazing faces north to curtail solar gain, while an overhang and adjacent trees shade the smaller south-east entrance façade. This orientation strategy prioritizes diffuse light and view without burdening mechanical systems.
A layered ceiling assembly enables natural ventilation, using hidden inlets and high-level outlets to promote buoyancy-driven airflow when conditions allow. Mechanical demand is further reduced by a geothermal heat pump that covers a portion of heating and cooling, leveraging stable ground temperatures to smooth seasonal peaks.
Planting selections mirror local biodiversity and are supported by existing waterways adapted for rainwater collection and irrigation. The shallow substrate on the roof favors resilient grasses, flowers, and small shrubs suited to limited soil depth, simplifying maintenance and protecting the timber structure through careful moisture management. Together, these measures align operational performance with the low-impact material strategy of the 414 m2 pavilion.
About MVRDV
MVRDV is a globally recognized architecture and urban design practice based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, and Nathalie de Vries, the firm is known for its innovative and sustainable design approach that blends data-driven research with imaginative solutions. Their work spans a wide range of projects, from individual buildings to master plans, consistently seeking to address social, ecological, and spatial challenges in bold and engaging ways.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Client: Pujiang County Planning and Resources Bureau
- Architect: MVRDV
- Founding Partner in Charge: Jacob van Rijs
- Partner: Wenchian Shi
- Director, MVRDV Shanghai: Peter Chang
- Design Team: Kyo Suk Lee, Olga Marelja, Geert Folmer, Guido Boeters, Cai Zheli, Shanshan Wu, Alexander Forsch, Ilaria Furbetta, Yihong Chen, Jiamen Li, Shing Yat Tam, Yifei Zhang, Cai Huang, Seunghan Yeum, Gioele Colombo, Xinyuan Zhang
- MVRDV Climate: Alexander Forsch
- Visualisations: Antonio Luca Coco, Angelo La Delfa, Fady Yassa, Lorenzo D’Alessandro, Ciprian Buzdugan, Luana La Martina, Marco Fabri, Stefania Trozzi
- Copyright: © MVRDV, Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries
- Construction company: 成都建工第三建筑工程有限公司 (Chengdu Third Construction Engineering Of CDCEG)
- Co-architect: 四川省建筑设计研究院有限公司 (Sichuan Provincial Architectural Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd)
- Research references or publications: MVRDV Climate – Alexander Forsch
