Intended as a public showcase of East & Southeast Asians’ collective commitment to tackling the climate crisis, an outdoor Pop-Up Structure built from low carbon materials and processes was used to host a series of public sit down meals featuring low carbon dishes developed in Low Carbon Chinatown.
Awards: Finalist Award for Seoul Design Award 2023
Featured in: London Design Festival 2022, Design Exchange
The structure was first installed in London Chinatown (as part of London Design Festival 2022) where it is used to host a series of sit-down meals featuring low carbon dishes that were developed by 60 East and South East Asian community members living in London, alongside a data scientist and acclaimed Asian food writers. The Pop-up structure reimagines alternative ways to produce touring structure and how it can contribute to a more sustainable future.
The low carbon Pop-Up Structure was designed in collaboration with Usman Haque, and supported by structural engineers Atelier One.
The Pop-Up Structure is intended to showcase other aspects of tackling the Climate Crisis by adopting low carbon approaches to designing and fabricating sustainable touring works. Designed to be easily assembled/disassembled and transported by a small electric van, the structure is made from a range of materials that are sustainable/low-carbon or easily recyclable in existing facilities once touring ends.
Photos by Luke O’Donovan
The Structure has four key components: a Preparation Unit, a long Banquet Table, a Pleated Canopy, and borrowed chairs from the Chinatown community. These are made primarily from three materials:
• UK grown Bamboo for structural members
• EnviroHoard™ for cladding and surfaces
• Tyvek for sun/rain protection
UK Grown Bamboo
The bamboo used in the Pop-Up Structure was grown and harvested from Ness Botanic Gardens in Liverpool (UK).
Borinda bamboo originated from mountainous Tibet and was first propagated in Shropshire (UK) many years ago by one of a few UK bamboo experts, Michael Brisbane. Borinda bamboo is a hardy plant that thrives in different climates. When harvested, it is a strong and sustainable material with many uses in different industries such as construction and design. It has a powerful capacity for capturing carbon, particularly as a result of its growth rate. In contrast to trees, bamboo plants regenerate quickly after being harvested. There is a growing initiative in the UK to explore the use of bamboo as a future sustainable building material for the planet. The bamboo used in the Pop-up was kindly donated by Liverpool City Region.
EnviroHoard™
The surfaces, counters and cladding of the Pop-Up Structure are fabricated using EnviroHoard™ panels, a recyclable alternative to typical construction hoarding panels.
Developed by UK-based Panthera Group, and normally used in construction sites as hoarding, the panels are made of post-production recycled PVC. In contrast to normal plywood hoarding, they are typically reused up to three times on different sites over several years , and then recycled and processed again to be used as new hoarding panels. Panthera Group has kindly donated Class B pre-used EnviroHoard panels to the project.
Tyvek
The canopy of the Pop-Up Structure is constructed from pleated Tyvek. While not strictly speaking low-carbon itself, Tyvek is a lightweight paper-like substance that can be easily repurposed and recycled.
It is lightweight, waterproof and a high-value recyclable material, often used in banners and disposable protective wear, which can be mechanically recycled into products such as underground cable protection piping, automotive parts, blown film, packaging cores and trays. Made with 100% HDPE, Tyvek is readily recyclable for its second life in existing recycling facilities. Tyvek from the Pop-up will be repurposed and recycled once it reaches the end of its touring.
Borrowed chairs from Chinatown Community
In addition, all the chairs used in the Pop-Up have been lent to us by different nearby Chinatown businesses, placing the project within a local sharing economy – with thanks to Min Tea, Wing Wing, Pot Pot Matatang, Jin Li, New Canton, Ku Bar, Gourmet Kitchen, Shanghai Modern, Candy Cafe, Imperial China, Mi Canteen, Monga, Dumplings’ Legend, Leong’s Legend, Real Beijing, Shu Xiang Ge, Wan Chai Corner and New China.
Special thanks to
Data scientist Raphael Leung
Collaborating Food writers MiMi Aye, Uyen Luu and Shu Han Lee
Community partners London Chinese Community Centre, Hackney Chinese Community Centre, Newham Chinese Association and Royal Docks
Kakilang Team An-Ting Chang, Daniel York Loh, Sandy Wan, Katrina Man, Apollonia Bauer, Si Rawlinson
Low Carbon Chinatown is a project by Ling Tan and produced by Chinese Arts Now. The low carbon Pop-Up Structure is designed by Ling Tan and designer Usman Haque, both trained as architects, supported by structural engineers Atelier One, fabricated by Gary Campbell and production managed by Nick Murray.
