When the pavilion programme was launched seventeen years ago it had the aim of giving a platform to an architect who hadn’t yet built in the UK. For Kéré it has come at a good time – his career seems to have been building over the past few years.

He was first brought to London for the Sensing Spaces exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2014 and since then there have been further exhibitions focused on his work in Munich and Philadelphia.

This architect knows how to build. In his home village of Gando, he has worked tirelessly to up skill the community while building a much-needed school, community space and housing – a project that he began whilst still a student in Berlin. It is there where his practical knowledge and understanding of materials was first developed.  

The result is a structure which is precise but also one that draws on his African heritage without being obvious or cliché. 

These building skills can be seen in the finished 163m2 pavilion. Unlike last year’s project, which was being completed as the opening party began, Kéré’s addition was completed on time with both engineer AECOM and the contractor Stage One quick to praise his approach.

The result is a structure which is precise but also one that draws on his African heritage without being obvious or cliché.

Inspired by the community tree of his native Burkina Faso, where people would come to meet, Kéré has created just that – a meeting space. He describes it as a ‘micro cosmos’ – a community centre in Kensington Gardens fusing together cultural references to his home country with the construction capabilities of London.

The roof is one of the pavilion’s strongest points. The large spanning timber canopy features a thin covering of clear polycarbonate that will funnel rainwater down into the central courtyard.

Visitors are drawn into the space through four separate entry points which lead to a central courtyard into which the roof bows down. It is light, inviting and open.

The roof is one of the pavilion’s strongest points. The large spanning timber canopy features a thin covering of clear polycarbonate that will funnel rainwater down into the central courtyard.

It’s not often that we hope for rain. But during this summer heat wave the pavilion team are hoping for at least one typically rainy day when its funnel-like roof will come into its own - creating a visible waterfall in the centre of the pavilion. But they needn’t be too worried; this pavilion will come alive regardless of the weather.

Inside the pavilion, there is a strong connection with nature and the outside. You can still see the treetops and the sky and through perforations in the walls you still have a sense of being connected to the space outside the building.

These blue painted timber walls set out the pavilion’s elliptical space while referencing African patterns and textiles.  The dark blue colour choice was an important one.

‘In my culture blue is an important colour’, says Kéré.

He tells of how young African men wear indigo blue boubou (the traditional African dress) when they set out on their dreams and also for dates.

‘I wanted to present myself, my architecture, in blue – it is a great place, and if you have the chance to do something like I did here you come with your best colour, you show yourself from your best side. This is indigo blue,’ he adds.

This pavilion marks a step change for the Serpentine Gallery. After taking over from Julia Peyton-Jones last year, it is chief executive Yana Peel’s first pavilion commission. Perhaps with a more risk-adverse goal, she and artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist enlisted the help of David Adjaye and Richard Rogers to choose a design from an invited shortlist of candidates. It is the first year the Serpentine Gallery invited more than one architect to pitch for the coveted job of designing a pavilion. Here, the approach paid off, but there is some worry the change could lead to more conservative designs.

I am so proud that they had the courage to choose me

For Kéré, he hopes being chosen will lead to more work in London and the UK. If this happens it will be interesting to see how his ideas translate to British architectural sensibilities and procurement methods. He could probably teach us a thing or two there. But for now, he is so obviously delighted with his project. ‘I am so proud that they had the courage to choose me’, he concludes.