Boat Building School

Year: 2012, third year architecture studio, fall semester, Tulane University
Duration: 6 weeks
Studio Instructor: David Merlin
Studio Coordinator: Kentaro Tsubaki
Hardware/Software: Laser cutter, Rhino, V-Ray for Rhino, AutoCad, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign

Model and Diagram (click to enlarge)

Wooden Boat Building School

The program is for the addition of a wooden boat building school to an existing boating museum in Madisonville, Louisiana. The school, using traditional methods, acts as an extension of the museum by displaying the processes by which Louisianan wooden boats are built.

The school creates a seamless unity of the vernacular surrounding and industrial program. The small site next to the Tchefuncte River frequently floods. The design, therefore, needed to coordinate vertical movement of 40’ boats. A core was created to encompass communal spaces, storage, and circulation. This core serves the main components of the program that, flanking the core, are divided by floor. As the boat is built, it moves higher into the building. When it is finished, the boat travels on a lift down through the building’s core and into the water.

Plans (click to enlarge)

The Facade

The uniform facade reflects the forest and river that surround the school. Made of a corrugated and perforated metal panel system, clusters of perforations accumulate to frame views. Behind the panel system there are both ope-air and enclosed spaces depending on the nature of the space. Because the wood shops and boat shops are open-air they are higher in the building to catch breezes above the trees. The library, offices and classrooms have glazing behind the panel system to provide comfort during working and studying times.

Sections (click to enlarge)

View from second floor studio (click to enlarge)

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