Studio Folk Architects, in collaboration with design-and-build studio Raskl, has unveiled The Veggery, a temporary greenhouse pavilion created to mark the conclusion of this year’s London Festival of Architecture (LFA), powered by NLA. Installed within the Barbican Estate by the Culture Mile Business Improvement District, the pavilion was selected through the open Seeds in the City design competition earlier this year.
Designed as a greenhouse, community gathering space, and educational pavilion, The Veggery responds to the festival’s 2026 theme, Belonging, by creating a place where residents, students, and visitors can come together through gardening, workshops, and shared events.
Designed Around the Barbican’s Architectural Identity
The pavilion takes the form of a hexagonal domed greenhouse featuring a vaulted polytunnel roof, water butts used as structural columns, and a meter-high turnip finial at its highest point. While drawing inspiration from traditional English garden follies and allotment sheds, its silhouette references the distinctive barrel-vaulted roofscape of the Barbican Estate.
Its timber structure has been designed as a low-tech, demountable system that allows for straightforward assembly and disassembly, supporting reuse after the installation concludes.
Adding a community-made element, the greenhouse windows feature a pseudo-stained-glass effect created from large paper collages produced during workshops with students from the neighboring City of London School for Girls.
A Space for Growing and Gathering
Inside, The Veggery combines planting areas with flexible community space. Three shelving bays accommodate plants alongside potting benches, while an open central area has been reserved for workshops, educational activities, and public events throughout the summer.
The planting has been grown and propagated in partnership with the City of London School for Girls, residents, and community organizations, including the Barbican Horticultural Society.
Patrick O’Keeffe, Co-founder and Director of Studio Folk Architects, said the team hopes the pavilion will become an extension of the Barbican’s public realm, offering a flexible space that functions as a greenhouse, classroom, event venue, and everyday meeting place.
Studio Folk Architects and Raskl Deliver a Community-Led Installation
Raskl partnered with Studio Folk Architects to deliver the project from concept to installation.
Dan Rose, Director of Raskl, said the project demonstrates the value of integrating design and delivery from the outset, particularly within a site shared by a working church, a school with an active, growing program, and a community that will continue using the pavilion after the festival concludes.
According to the project team, the collaborative approach was central to transforming the competition-winning concept into a functional public space intended for long-term community use.
Reflecting the Festival Theme of Belonging
Eliza Grosvenor, Head of Public Program at NLA, described The Veggery as a fitting installation to conclude this year’s London Festival of Architecture, highlighting its community-led development process and its connection to the Barbican’s relationship with landscape and public space.
Andrew Smith, Chair of the Culture Mile Business Improvement District, said the project reflects the organization’s ambition to create greener and more sustainable public spaces while encouraging residents, schools, and community groups to take ownership of the local environment.
On Display Through September 2026
The Veggery will remain installed at the Barbican Estate until September 2026. The program will conclude with a communal meal celebrating vegetables grown within the greenhouse during the installation period, bringing together the community that helped shape the project from its earliest stages.
Image credit: Gemma Sandell / Mike Massaro
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