Holcim Awards Global Gold winner Francis Kéré continues to create work that lives up to the “target issues” of sustainable construction and captures international imagination. His Serpentine Pavilion has opened in London, with a design that reflects on the role of a tree as meeting point in his hometown of Gando in Burkina Faso.

Inspired by the tree that serves as a central meeting point for life in his hometown, Francis Kéré has designed a responsive Pavilion that seeks to connect its visitors to nature – and each other. An expansive roof, supported by a central steel framework, mimics a tree’s canopy, allowing air to circulate freely while offering shelter against London summer heat.

Francis Kéré was chosen by Serpentine Artistic Director Hans-Ulrich Obrist and CEO Yana Peel, along with advisors David Adjaye and Richard Rogers. Every year since 2000, the Serpentine Gallery has commissioned a temporary summer pavilion by a leading architect: as a community hub and café during the day, and forum for learning and entertainment at night. The series presents the work of an international architect or design team who has not completed a building in England at the time of the Gallery’s invitation.

Francis Kéré will deliver a keynote address at the Holcim Awards ceremony for region Middle East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2017.