Sidle Pavilion

Doncaster, Melbourne

“Sidle” is a pavilion in park in the suburb of Doncaster. We chose to make something from the fabric of the local area that also talks, globally, of issues of reinvention and reuse. This pavilion is made from old playground slides; the structure is 95% recycled or up-cycled material.

The call for a shelter was part of a general park upgrade which saw the removal of the old metal slides from this and all playgrounds in the municipality so we gathered them together to reuse in the building of this pavilion.

Beyond the obvious economic and environmental concerns, reusing the slides is a way of creating the new from the fabric of the old, reinforcing stories and giving the shelter a sense of continuity, a ready made history and response to its immediate context.

The slides are rotated around a central axis so that a parabola is created making a twisted structure composed entirely of straight elements.

The structure is sited at the most elevated end of the park so that parents can watch their children and enjoy a panoramic view out of the sun. The shelter remains open on all sides so no lurking black spots were created in the park.

The structure has been painted a vivid pink to compliment the trees of the park. The pink animates the structure giving it a floral rather machine association.

Sidle is a integrated shelter that is both artwork and structure that shelters whilst being enjoyable, and thought provoking.