Mizzi Studio creates mushroom-like pavilion for Kew's Carbon Garden in London

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/07/31/mizzi-studio-carbon-garden-pavilion-kew/





A translucent roof made using flax crowns the ornate wooden structure of the Carbon Garden Pavilion at London's Kew Gardens, created by architectural designer Mizzi Studio. The pavilion forms part of Kew's newly created Carbon Garden, which has been created to highlight the role of carbon in supporting life on Earth.







According to Mizzi Studio, the Carbon Garden Pavilion is designed as a "physical extension" of this landscape and to emulate a living organism. Its form, which resembles a mushroom, is crafted from wood and stone, and supports a large overhanging roof made partly from flax fibres. It was developed by the studio in collaboration with engineers and makers Atelier One, Xylotek, and 2D3D.





"The pavilion is a symbolic fruiting body and a physical extension of the Carbon Garden's landscape planting scheme," studio founder Jonathan Mizzi told Dezeen. "It's not quite a tree, not quite a mushroom or plant, but a celebratory marriage of the symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. It blossoms from the earth as a living organism."





The Carbon Garden Pavilion is positioned at the heart of the garden and leans towards the sun path. It is designed to function as an "intimate and welcoming" shelter, but is also spacious enough to accommodate school groups and community learning events. "Much like flowers that use form, colour, and scent to attract pollinators, the pavilion was designed to draw visitors into the Carbon Garden," said Mizzi. "Its sculptural canopy leans toward the southern sun path, opening with a carnivorous mouth – a gesture inspired by the Pitcher plants found in Kew's Princess of Wales Conservatory."

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