Set within the orchards of Expo Milan 2015, the UK Pavilion was a striking sensory experience that invited visitors to see the world through the eyes of a bee and to reflect on the fragility and interconnectedness of our global ecosystem.
Designed in collaboration with artist Wolfgang Buttress, the Pavilion won the Expo’s prestigious Gold Award for Architecture and Landscape, and has since found a permanent home at Kew Gardens, London.
The UK Pavilion at Milan Expo translated a complex environmental message into an emotionally resonant, sensory-driven experience.
At the heart of the Pavilion was The Hive: a vast latticework sculpture inspired by a real beehive in Nottingham. It was connected in real time to sensors inside a functioning UK hive — translating vibrations and activity into light and sound that pulsed through the structure.
Journey developed a suite of immersive and interpretive experiences to guide audiences through this world. From etched corten steel to intimate audiovisual moments, every detail contributed to a process of discovery, a progression that mirrored how bees themselves navigate and communicate.
To reflect how bees communicate through vibrations rather than sound, we designed a bespoke bone conduction device that let visitors feel these signals through their jawbones, just as bees do.
Elsewhere in the orchard, small screens embedded in wooden pods revealed animations of the visitor journey, unfolding like short poems in motion.
These tactile experiences grounded the Pavilion’s scientific themes in simple to understand and emotive terms.
Early research workshops and hive visits built a creative foundation rooted in empathy. Prototypes, including the bone conduction interface and an interactive titling screen, became signature elements of the final experience.
Impact
Gold Award
Architecture and Landscape – Milan Expo 2015
Our design exploration extended into branding and experiential graphics, stress-testing the Pavilion’s visual language across print, product, and digital platforms. Even organic elements (like real honey) shaped the core interpretive vision.
The Pavilion […] is a captivating reminder of these small creatures’ enormous impact.