Adjaye Associates completes timber performance pavilion in Barbados

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Second phase of project will see delivery of a permanent cultural venue for the Caribbean island nation

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The first phase of the Barbados National Performing Arts Centre has opened with a timber pavilion designed by Adjaye Associates. The structure forms part of a longer-term plan to deliver a permanent national venue for performance and cultural events.

The project opened during Carifesta XV, the Caribbean’s regional festival of arts and culture, with a production of Mansa Musa, a piece of musical theatre exploring the life of the 14th-century emperor of Mali.

The pavilion is described as a temporary or ‘meanwhile use’ cultural space, forming part of Adjaye Associates’ masterplan for the Barbados Heritage District, which also includes the Enslaved Burial Ground at Newton Memorial.

The 50-foot-high structure was engineered by StructureCraft. It is constructed entirely from timber, with sloped perimeter canopies that are intended to be reconfigured into the permanent roof structure in the second phase of the project.

Slender cables brace the columns back to the foundations, creating a system designed to resist hurricane-force winds.

Sir David Adjaye, founder and principal of Adjaye Associates, said: “Timber is the unifying language of both the Memorial and the Performing Arts Centre. In the Arts Centre, it is a material of transformation that is sustainable and adaptable. The building will evolve from the current temporary pavilion into a permanent national institution.

“Across both the Memorial and Arts Centre projects, timber grounds the architecture in ecology and affirms the deep relationship between nature, culture, and place. Together, they project a vision of Barbados as a forward-looking ecological and creative force.”

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The second phase of the Barbados National Performing Arts Centre is scheduled to open in 2026. The timber frame and foundations from the current pavilion will anchor an 85,000 square foot building including a 1,500-seat auditorium and rehearsal studios.

The pavilion uses mass timber, chosen for its structural performance and to enable rapid assembly within the four-month construction programme.

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