A passionate client team, an unusual brief, a limited budget, unique site constraints and a tight timeframe, the Edinburgh Art Festival Kiosk project had it all, and demanded creativity on all fronts.

The scope of the project was to design and manage the fabrication and construction of a new temporary information kiosk for the month-long Edinburgh Art Festival. A crucial element of the design was that the kiosk needed to be fully demountable, allowing individual elements to fit through a standard door, and that it could be reassembled for 3 consecutive years. We also had to factor in enough flexibility to suit various ground conditions and potential for extreme wind loading.

The chosen design used modular bays, defined by plywood structural frames mounted on adjustable metal feet to accommodate variations in ground level. Below floor level, the gaps between the frames were loaded with dense concrete blocks to prevent the structure taking off in high winds. The large frames were wrapped in a waterproofing layer of triple-wall polycarbonate sheets, then whole structure was protected by an additional outer layer of thin composite concrete panels. CNC cut-outs in the concrete panels combined with the polycarbonate to create wonderful diffused light within which changed throughout the day. We worked closely with AED Structural Engineers throughout the design and installation process, enabling us to develop creative solutions to some of the more technical structural issues.

Having the opportunity to design, detail and cost every component was hugely satisfying and the project proved that it’s often the tiny details that can be most pleasing.