Pavilion

Some historians suggest that the Pavilion style was derived from the Japanese irimoya roof form, which was utilitized on Buddhist temple structures beginning in the 7th Century. The Pavilion style of today however gained popularity when Wichita, Kansas architect Richard Burke developed a modified version of the roof form for the Pizza Hut chain in 1964. Quickly, the style proliferated across the country as a way to distingish buildings apart from the existing built environment. By the mid-1960s, the style was widely used on structures for World’s Fairs, visitors centers, and occasionally dwellings.

While the Pavilion style can be found mainly on small scale commercial buildings, many insitutional facilities often used the style to break up the mass of the large footprints needed to construct such buildings as elementary schools. The ensuing look is that of a “cluster” development of smaller scale buildings. Some residential examples can be found, although they are rare.

The defining characterisic of the Pavilion style is its distinctive roof shape which utilizes two roof forms stacked upon each other. The lower roof, always has a shallow hip form while the upper roof can utilize a steep hip, gable or mansard form. The resulting silhouette of the building is a structure with hipped roof and a boxlike crown. For small-scale commercial buildings, the steep sloping crown could easily support an area for a large advertising sign. Utilized on larger buildings with a mansard style crown, the area offers a convenient space to hide mechanical equipment. Often atop the upper roof is a central skylight, or space reserved for a chimney flue. Pavillion style structures often have floor to ceiling openings of glass, wide over-hanging boxed eaves and sliding glass doors. Their exteriors can be clad in brick, clapboard, T-1-11, stone, or stucco.