Distributed for UCL Press
Rethinking the Pavilion
Shared experience at the Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre
A London-based architect offers a self-reflexive account of a communal building they designed in rural Britain.
Rethinking the Pavilion comprehensively investigates one unique project by Walters & Cohen Architects, the Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre in rural Suffolk, completed in 2018. The book describes how shared experience defines a new way of working towards an architecture that rediscovers and enriches its communal purpose. In addition to setting out a theoretical framework that examines the architectural history and theory of pavilions, the book provides a complex discussion of the details and meanings of the design research process itself.
184 pages | 8.5 x 9.02 | © 2026
Design Research in Architecture
Architecture: Architecture--Criticism, British Architecture, History of Architecture
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and notes on the text
Forward by Prue Chiles
Introduction
1 Lessons from pivotal projects: a theoretical and contextual analysis of the practice methodology
2. Project as teacher: a new building typology at Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre
3. Transforming practice: inhabitation and shared experience
Conclusion
Bibliography
Appendix 1: Client letter and Schedule of Accommodation for Vajrasana Buddhist Retreat Centre
Appendix 2: Selected award citations