Introduction

AMONG the problems of the present day which are likely to be encountered by the designer, that of the outdoor pavilion and the covered space, open on all sides, must be considered. At all periods this particular form of building has produced a variety of types which in principle are closely related. To name a few instances of its purpose: it is applicable to the arrangement of architectural schemes in public and private parks: it has been found essential for market-places and civic centres: it can be modified to serve as a street shelter, and it can form the entrance to a railway station, while many other uses will readily suggest themselves.

The pavilion or loggia can also be applied to form a portico, as in the case of the Italian villa, or it may be used as a projecting porte-cochere or as any other architectural feature designed to mark the centre of a building. In the above-mentioned cases, the loggia or porch can follow either the accepted arcuated models of Italy or more severe classic lines.

Apart from the well-known examples at Abingdon, Berkshire; Poole, Dorsetshire; and Peterborough, Northamptonshire, all of which form basement storeys of market halls, the single storey pavilion or covered space is peculiarly suited to the needs of a market. The market at Taunton, Somersetshire, is a case in point, and the old market shelter at St. Albans, Hertfordshire (no longer existing), as well as the wooden pavilion designed by Bell which in the eighteenth century formed the chief attraction of the “Tuesday Market Place” at King’s Lynn, Norfolk, indicate the direction in which the imagination of the designer can be safely guided.

For more elaborate versions, reference can be made to the markets designed by Charles Fowler at Exeter and Covent Garden, London: the smaller markets at Paris and the older types abounding in the cities of Italy.