​METAL SCULPTURE PLUS

In the spring of 2013 we met with two excited gentlemen whom were looking for some assitence in developing some ideas for modernizing a non profit, childeren's, summer camp of which they were associated with. Upon meeting with these gentlemen we quickly recognized their passion for helping as well as their uncertainty with how to begin. We were able to figure out right away that they had many plans for updateing the current facilities and ultimately would eventually need some form of master plan for completeing all of the tasks. They seemed somewhat overwhelmed with all of there thoughts, but they knew what their first item to address was; a new directors cabin.

The existing cabin was a small shack that was non-compliant and further more, was in great dispare. It was modified several times and was beginning to settle towards Maranacook Lake, making it unsafe for usage. The local land ordinance had changed since this stucture was built and as a result it became clear that the new director's cabin would have to be placed further away from the shore, so minimal environmental impact was an early consideration.

This cabin deisgn addressed several issues. Because the cabin was located within the shoreland zone, and with a placement variance from the town of Readfield, we were initially limited to a maximum of 1,500 square feet of space. The structure was to be placed on concrete piers to prevent harmfal damages to the site, however, later in construction the piers were replaced with a concrete foundation to create a more stable building and to allow for additional storage and lower level shower stalls. It was also asked of us to accomodate two programs whilst considering possibilities for sesonal usage . This cabin was going to be used as an staff office for the summer camp and as such it needed to house proper spaces for records and administrative support. The director's of the camp also wanted to use this new building as a classroom. As a means to get the most out of the design it needed to be both practically functional and open to creative exploration. We determined that this idea would best be captured by creating a balance between these to functions, allowing for flexibility and adaptation within these spaces. This balance also served as unifying measure which helped the cabin feel homely and spacially open to those who could rent the building in the off seasons.

This cabin was designed with two primary entrys. One for the campers, which is closer to lake, and the other for the director's, which is closer to the access road. We knew that there should be a clear hierarchy between the spaces of the two programs. We wanted parents and staff to feel as though they are entering a professional environment with a practical and functional layout. We also wanted the children have as much space as possible and to be surrounded with natural landscape but visually adjacent to administrative support to accomodate their various camp activities. The major design challange bacame constructing the spaces to allow for a comfortable integration between the two differing activities.