The design and architecture of the exhibition pavilion

Andrew Tierney, Department of History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin, discusses the Dublin exhibition building, one of the great spectacles of its time with its central hall hailed as ‘the finest apartment ever erected’. Constructed with remarkable speed and efficiency, John Benson’s laminated timber ribs created a soaring roof of round arches, projecting into magnificent bows at each end, which astonished visitors to the exhibition. This paper examines the surviving sources for the building’s architecture and attempts to visualize some of its key features, while also discussing the technical challenges inherent in its design. Raised under the glare of press scrutiny, the building’s execution was itself a spectacle, involving an extensive workforce and the rapid fabrication of great quantities of wood, iron, and glass.