Kayak Pavilion at Long Dock Park
This project for the Scenic Hudson Land Trust is a Boat Pavilion in a new public park on the Hudson River in Beacon, New York. One of two new structures created for Long Dock Park, the Boat Pavilion was integrated closely with the landscape architect Reed Hilderbrand Associates’ vision. The project has been certified LEED Gold.
The Pavilion is conceived as a threshold to the expansive Hudson River. The roof is a horizontal plane of corrugated steel that parallels a large cumaru wood deck from which boats launch. The painted steel structure is economical and sturdy. Secure storage for up to sixty-four kayaks or canoes, a changing room and storage area are enclosed by aluminum bar grating panels. The textures, patterns, orientation and details of the corrugated steel, wood deck and bar grating bring these ordinary elements into an elegant composition. Enabling both reflective contemplation and athletic activity, the Boat Pavilion establishes a new affirmative relationship between the public and the Hudson River.
Scenic Hudson’s Long Dock Park was chosen for the Sustainable Sites Initiative (sites) pilot program as one of 150 projects in 34 states that seek to create landscapes that can clean water, reduce pollution and restore habitat while providing significant economic and social benefits to land owners and municipalities. The overall project will offer a national model for sustainable design and land management.
The roof of the Boat Pavilion is fit with 65 solar panels comprising a 10-kilowatt micro-inverter system. The power generated through this system feeds back into the electrical grid, and it is intended to offset the electrical consumption of the nearby Education Center and illumination throughout Long Dock Park.
Long Dock Park provides the local community and larger regional populations with a new way to access and experience the Hudson River. Because visibility and interactivity are crucial to the promotion of stewardship, the Boat Pavilion offers recreational activity that is the basis for a new affirmative relationship to the surrounding ecology. (The Hudson River Center, located in Long Dock within a renovated a historic barn, affords equivalent cultural and educational opportunities.) The Boat Pavilion’s design had to be durable enough for everyday use and architecturally appealing enough to excite local regulars as well as tourists visiting the nearby Dia:Beacon Museum.
The project’s budget dictated modest, durable materials throughout both buildings, but all are deployed with careful intentions to stimulate and evoke the character of Long Dock Park. Steel and aluminum of the Boat Pavilion are used in visually appealing patterns and textures. The cumaru wood deck shows a commitment to sustainable forestry practices.
Scope: 2,700 square feet
Location:
Long Dock Park, Beacon, NY
Dates:
08/2009—10/2011
Construction cost:
$595,000
Awards:
Honor Award, aia, 2013
Merit Award, aia New York City, 2012
Citation, aia New York State, 2012
Contractors and Suppliers:
General Contractor = Key Interiors, Inc. (Project Manager: Martin Berenson)
Electrical = NY-CONN Corp.
Mechanical and Plumbing = DJ Heating and Cooling
Fire Protection = Calculated Fire Protection
Elevator = Schindler
Structural Steel = NS Associates
Consultants
Structural: Robert Silman Associates (Nat Oppenheimer, Tim Schenck)
MEP: Altieri Sebor Wieber LLC (Michael Freleich, Chris Cash, Kazi Karim, Joseph Pappolla)
Landscape and Decks: Reed Hilderbrand Associates (Chris Moyles, Michelle Crowley)
Civil: Divney Tung Schwalbe (Gerhard Schwalbe, Maria Alfaro)
Building Envelope: Building Science Corporation (Joseph Lstiburek)
Lighting: Richard J. Shaver Architectural Lighting
LEED: Viridian (Andrew Graceffa)
Elevator: Van Deusen and Associates (Rick Sayah)
Acoustical: Cerami Associates (Stephen Lindsey)
