May 18, 2026 / By rachel
Some projects begin with a careful brief, a detailed programme and a client meeting or twelve.
This one began with a rather brilliant question: could a team of Herefordshire architects help bring a little bit of Hay Festival into the centre of Hereford?
As today marks the opening day of Hay Festival 2026, Week 11 of our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series felt like the perfect moment to revisit one of RRA Architects’ more unusual past projects: the Hereford Eco-Pavilion.
It was not a house. It was not an office. It was not even designed to stay in one place for very long.
It was a temporary oak-framed, green-roofed, bamboo-guttered pop-up structure in Hereford’s High Town, created in 2010 to promote the Guardian Hay Festival and act as a ticket office in the run-up to the event.
So yes, technically a ticket office. But one with a lot more personality than your average queue-and-collect situation.
Hereford architects with a festival brief
The idea was simple, but wonderfully visible.
RRA Architects worked with Oakwrights and GreenRoofTops to design and build a temporary pavilion that could stop people in their tracks, invite them in and create a small moment of festival atmosphere in the city centre.
For two weeks before Hay Festival, the Hereford Eco-Pavilion stood in High Town as a promotional ticket office and public talking point. People could pause, find out what was happening at the festival, sit for a moment and enjoy a glimpse of Hay in the middle of Hereford.
Before the festival itself, the structure was taken down, transported and rebuilt at Hay, where it became a small venue for intimate gatherings, quiet conversations and cosy talks. Very civilised. Very Hay.
Built in five hours for maximum impact
One of the most impressive things about the pavilion was how quickly it came together.
According to coverage at the time, the locally designed and built structure was erected in just five hours. The oak frame and fixings were reusable, the rainwater guttering was made from bamboo and the roof was covered with living plants.
The green roof had its own little starring role too. GreenRoofTops explained that the planting had been in a field on the Sunday morning, before being installed on the pavilion and later returned to be sold on and used elsewhere.
That is the sort of sustainable construction story we like: local collaboration, clever reuse and a roof that had a better travel itinerary than most of us.
A small structure with a big message
The Hereford Eco-Pavilion was never about scale. It was about impact.
It showed how a temporary structure could still be thoughtful, attractive, reusable and rooted in sustainable design principles. It brought together local expertise from RRA Architects, Oakwrights and GreenRoofTops, creating something that was practical, promotional and genuinely engaging.
It also did what good temporary architecture should do. It changed the feel of a place, even briefly. It gave people a reason to stop. It made the festival visible before it had even begun.
Not bad for something that could be built, taken apart and rebuilt again.
Sustainable architecture with local roots
The Hereford Eco-Pavilion reflected many of the things that continue to shape RRA Architects’ work today: context, craft, sustainability, collaboration and a good understanding of how people actually use spaces.
From our offices in Hereford, Cheltenham and Ludlow, RRA Architects work across Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Bristol and Avon and the Cotswolds, designing buildings that respond to place, purpose and people.
Whether we are working on heritage buildings, homes, schools, commercial spaces, community projects or something as wonderfully temporary as a festival pavilion, our approach is grounded in practical design thinking and a strong sense of place.
Still part of the RRA story
This week’s project is a little different from the others in our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series, but that is precisely why we like it.
Across four decades, our work as architects has included listed buildings, homes, schools, commercial spaces, galleries, churches and one very hard-working festival pavilion.
The Hereford Eco-Pavilion reminds us that architecture does not always have to be permanent to be worthwhile. Sometimes it just needs a good idea, the right collaborators and a green roof with excellent timing.
We are now over a quarter of the way through our 40 Projects in 40 Weeks series, so if you have missed any of the previous stories, you can catch up on our News page.