Barkow Leibinger's Fellows Pavilion offers study spaces in a lakeside garden
This glazed garden pavilion by architecture studio Barkow Leibinger offers scenic study spaces for resident fellows at the American Academy in Berlin (+ slideshow).
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
American architect Frank Barkow and German architect Regine Leibinger were asked to create the study pavilion in the lakeside grounds of the Berlin institution – which was established in 1994 to help foster relationships between Germany and the United States, and which counts playwright Arthur Miller and artist Jenny Holzer among its alumni.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
The resulting Fellows Pavilion boasts glass walls inside and out, a looping veranda and an angular roof made up of hyperbolic paraboloids.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
A plot housing a disused bathhouse provided a site for the single-storey building. Facing a lake in Berlin's Wannsee area, it sits at the south-west corner of the gardens that surround the academy's home inside a 19th-century villa.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
The lightweight glass and steel structure comprises a skeletal outer frame and a transparent central box. Its roof angles up and down to create gables on all four elevations.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
"The form of the pavilion's roof is a result of 'ruled geometry' – offset straight lines rotated to produce four hyperbolic paraboloids, a shape that is both abstract and familiar, since it reflects, if only in elevation, the gabled roof of the historical villa," said Barkow Leibinger in a statement.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
"The distinctness of the pavilion is further enhanced by both its seeming to 'float' above the garden's green lawn, and its dominant white colour."
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
The interior is broken up into a simple grid, creating eight rooms. Six study spaces, each with an area of seven square metres, run through the middle. A larger group study area sits at one end, while the other end houses a kitchen.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
Glass doors allow every room to be opened out to the surrounding veranda, which is also sheltered beneath the roof. A mid-19th-century sculpture sits nearby.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
"An existing sculpture by Georg Kolbe, 'Verkündigung' (1937), gestures to this new pavilion, recalling Kolbe's 'Der Morgen' (1925) at Mies van der Rohe‘s Barcelona Pavilion," added the team.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
Walls between rooms and the central corridor feature even more glazing, but can be screened behind curtains for privacy, while high-level windows allow light to travel through the entire interior.
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
A steel platform covered in oak planks provides a durable flooring surface both inside and outside the building. The roof is supported by four I-beam columns, which integrate rainwater drainage.
Photography is by Stefan Müller, apart from where otherwise stated.
Project credits:
Architects: Barkow Leibinger
Project architect: Tobias Wenz
Team: Gustav Düsing, Ulrich Fuchs, Annette Wagner
Structural Engineer: Hörnicke-Hock-Thieroff (HHT)
Mechanical Engineer: HDH - Ingenieurgesellschaft für technische Gebäudeausrüstung
Landscape Architect: Capatti Staubach
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_2.gif)
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_1.gif)
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_3.gif)
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_5.gif)
![Fellows Pavilion for the American Academy in Berlin by Barkow Leibinger](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Fellows-Pavilion-for-the-American-Academy-in-Berlin-by-Barkow-Leibinger_dezeen_4.gif)