A PLANT pavilion has been installed in York city centre in a bid to entice insects.

The timber structure, inspired by the shape of cathedral arches, has been built in the Artists Garden behind York Art Gallery.

The installation will house hundreds of pots of flowering plants to attract bees, beetles, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

It is part of a project by Loop.pH, a laboratory that creates art on an environmental and ecological theme.

The group will also create a huge inflatable structure, called The Pollinarium, later in the year as part of the York Mediale festival which runs from September 27 to October 6.

Rachel Wingfield, co-founder of Loop.pH, said: “We’ve been working with the team from St Nick’s Centre for Nature and Green Living to choose suitable plants, and then they will be running workshops and activities themed around pollination throughout the summer for visitors to the garden.”

The next stage of the artwork will see a structure made from carbon fibre and reinforced plastic built for climbing and trailing plants to grow around. The technique is described as urban knitting and mimics the way strands of fibre twist together.

And the final stage of the project will see visitors step inside an installation where they can experience the world through the senses of a pollinating insect. The structure is due to open on September 29 and has been commissioned by York Mediale, York Museums Trust and Invisible Dust.

Mark Carlin of York Mediale said the structures will entice visitors to step inside and learn more, adding: “When it is complete in September, with the plants all fully grown, we hope that many people will return to gain a unique perspective on pollination – seeing the world through the eyes of a pollinating insect in a remarkable immersive experience.”