Zoning Concept

Invitation + Services

Zone 1 can be seen as the ‘connective tissue’ attaching the landfill phalanges to the shore line. It acts a public access zone for entering the site but also the thought was to design enticing moments of activity and utilizing public seating and landscaping to subtly entice visitation to the site by those traveling by vehicle. The first step to proliferating information and knowledge is access; I hoped this zone would intrigue and advertise the fingers as an access point as an educational experience.

Communion

This finger as zone 2 is meant to facilitate community connections and showcase the best view on the site looking up lake. The idea being that visitors could commune with each other or with nature. Following the concepts described in the earlier organizing parti, this finger provides the best visuals opportunities to ‘observe’ the natural systems on Lake Chelan.

Journey

Zone 3 features the ecology center and the majority of education features of the site. The zones title was chosen for its association with the process of learning. It fit at the time as well given this finger serves as the spine of the NORM water treatment system that the wastewater from each finger must go through for purification and reuse.

Quest

The final zone is titled Quest, while it may seem synonymous with journey, I felt there was a different energy behind quest. Quest is a term used for a mission of some sort, for those who have become motivated to seek and achieve specific set goals. To me the word describes a sharper and more focused travel. Originally, I had my heart set on designing a small marine biology lab for this project and placing it on the littlest finger. A place for established efforts such as KeepItBlue, or Lake Chelan Research Institute to have a prominent space directly on the lake to call home. I hoped to offer permanent labs and office space, but also provide spaces for visiting scientists and teams who seek to expand the knowledge base on Lake Chelan and its ultra-oligatrophic state. I imagined collaborative spaces and public speaking space so to increase the variety of options for visiting speakers and conferences that are already held in Lake Chelan.

The zone can be understood as the ‘practice’ portion of my organizing parti when applied to the overall site.

Division of Three

As seen in some of my case studies, I wanted to utilize the classic division of three’s one typically sees in cathedral architecture to organize each of the three structure types. I found that not relying on internal bearing walls and instead utilizing a regular grid of columns with the central bay as the widest would be the best way to maximize my spans, feature similar ratios in each of the three different looking forms, while maintaining maximal space flexibility for potential future programming and use.

Daylighted Emphasis

The direction I was headed focused on developing a structural system which could showcase a unique strategy for implementing natural daylighting. All utilized heavy timber construction but manifested in very different roof forms. The pointer finger featured structure with expressive timber arches and high ceilings to permit heavy use of clerestory lighting.

The center finger explored roof monitors with the intent of utilizing operable windows for both lighting and passive ventilation, featuring skylight apertures in roof ridges not featuring a monitor. The final structure, located on the little finger was a long linear form featuring a nonuniform sawtooth roof line, affixed with south facing P.V. panels and north facing apertures.

Structure Strategy