Chanel Pavilion

In 2007 Chanel commissioned a contemporary art pavilion to travel to major cities around the world in celebration of the iconic Chanel handbag. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects the structure became an iconic artwork in its own right, its organic, sculptural form and sequence of spaces inspired by Chanel’s layering of details within an elegant whole.

As design-and-build contractor, ES Global made the complex pavilion envelope a reality, incorporating a steel-rib structure, a fibre-reinforced roof and a glazed entrance that led through a series of archways to a central courtyard. Created to the client’s exacting standards, the entire structure was made ultra-low impact – requiring no foundation – and to be fully demountable within three weeks, ready to travel to its next city destination.