Exquisite Hues was shortlisted for the 2019 Dulwich Pavilion competition, commissioned by Dulwich Picture Gallery and the London Festival of Architecture. Pup Architects’ proposal was selected from over 150 entries by a jury of leading architecture critics including Tom Dyckhoff and Oliver Wainwright. The project was winner of the public vote that ran alongside the judging process.

The name Exquisite Hues is derived from a description of Sir John Soane’s Museum in reference to its effects of light and atmosphere. This manipulation of obscured and coloured light, resulting in an otherworldly atmosphere can be seen to great effect in Dulwich Picture Gallery’s Mausoleum. This is something that Soane referred to as `lumiére mystérieuse’. The proposed pavilion reimagines Soane’s mastery of light within a contemporary garden room, immersed in golden hues.

Natural light is filtered through coloured and translucent PVC and glass, which are vaulted and draped. Soft light and saturated tones animate the surfaces and people below, creating a sequence of altered atmospheres and sensations. Shifting sunlight throughout the day enlivens the interior with transformative qualities of light, flooding the space with overlapping pools of colour.

The pavilion welcomes visitors with an open arcade around its perimeter, providing places to sit and enjoy the garden. Within this cloister, a change of height and scale creates a space celebratory of Soane’s exquisite hues, bathing its occupants in amber light.