RIAI Cultural Building of the Year 2016
The 5CUBE was won by Scullion Architects in open competition seeking proposals to draw public attention to renewable energy sources. The concept behind the pavilion was to develop an easily replicable symbol of consumption, which could be scaled up or down, and would confront the public with the current rate of fossil fuel depletion. It represents the 473 barrels of oil consumed in Ireland every five minutes in the form of a 4.2m black glass cube. Inside the cube, mirrors form an internal view of giant celestial globe on one side and an infinite repeating sky on the other. Internal LED lights are charged by PV panels, giving a gentle internal glow, reflected by the internal mirrors by night. The pavilion is designed to be easily dismantled and is ballasted to its temporary location by several sand-filled boxes, so it might appear overnight in different locations - a surreal and silent monolith
