Interview about Old Yacht Club Private House, winner of the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award 2024
An abandoned Yacht Club, poised at the edge of the bay, sat derelict for years, all while bearing witness to the relentless coastal climate of Maine. Built in 1919, it endured a series of interventions after the Club relocated in 1946. It would require the right temperament and commitment to restore its historical memory while modernizing the early 20th century structure.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsRenovations always present design challenges, particularly when historic preservation is involved. In the case of the Old Yacht Club, we wanted to draw a clear line between past and present. We left the salvaged and reused material as untouched as possible. When it comes into contact with new materials or work, we referenced the old in the new but also created a distinction between old and new. This clarifies what is historical and what is contemporary allowing both to coexist in a state of clarity, respecting history without blurring the line.
The original Yacht Club was an interior-centric structure. It was designed as a space for gathering and conversation around the fireplace; not as a space that was connected to the site or sea. Our clients' desire to engage the site to a much greater extent, both visually and physically, led to the extension of the Club Room onto the deck and the dissolution of the corner. The sliding doors retract fully, without a corner post, extending the interior space outside. By recessing the door track into the floor and using the flooring material as decking, we were able to blur the line between inside and out.
The largest climate or environmental risk that the Old Yacht Club faces is flooding. To counter this, the wood structure was removed and set aside and the foundation was reinforced. Concrete footings were placed beneath the walls that were not ledge-bearing, and the entire base was encapsulated with a concrete footer that was pinned to bedrock. Additionally, a system of concrete buttresses coupled with a wide footing transformed the water-facing stone wall into a reinforced retaining wall, capable of resisting storm surge. A drainage system was installed beneath the foundation and original apertures in the foundation were left open, allowing the foundation to act as a sieve and avoid trapping floodwater inside.
The dormers were designed to be as minimal as possible with butt-glazing and structural supports eliminated at the corners. This creates a direct relationship with the outside as opposed to the feeling one gets when looking through a framed aperture like a window. The brunt of winter storms with horizontal rain and the piles of snow on the roof are so close you can almost feel them. As the sun moves around the building the dormers provide 270 degrees of unobstructed light and view creating a play of shadows that is in constant flux. In Maine's coastal climate separation between inside and outside is a requirement. Our goal was to minimize this barrier to the greatest extent possible, thus creating a more direct relationship with the site.
Our strategy was simple: we wanted a clear line between past and present. That is, when we reused historic materials they were reused intact and untouched. When new materials were required, rather than trying to replicate the old we made the distinction explicit. We did not want to blur the line between old and new, historic and contemporary. This would be disrespectful to the history of the structure. Instead, we used the old materials as a guide to drive the contemporary elements, transforming the original weathered boards into painted white paneling, for instance. We concealed necessary electrical receptacles and switches to allow the historical fabric to read just as it did originally.
The construction phase was the longest part of the project. It began in the spring of 2020 right at the start of the pandemic which added its own delays in terms of material shortages. The original Yacht Club was deconstructed with the Club Room and chimney carefully numbered, labeled, and stored for later reuse. This was a slow process but crucial to its reconstruction. Work on the foundation began and because the project was partially on clay it needed temporary stabilization while the work proceeded in sections to avoid undermining it. Additionally, the project was affected by the tides which resulted in a shifting schedule from day to day. These early phases of the work were slow and laborious but critical to the success of this project. From there, work proceeded to the erection of a newly engineered wood and steel superstructure. The chimney and Club Room were then put back together inside this new shell. While all of this was time-consuming, it extended the life of the structure which was put to the test earlier this year when back-to-back storms pounded the Maine coast. While some seaweed was left on the deck, the house survived without damage, unlike some of the less fortunate structures dotting the coastline.
The historical elements that had the largest impact were the stone foundation, the Club Room, the chimney, and the profile of the structure. The second floor of the Club had been gutted at some point and was just open framing. The exterior envelope consisted of a stucco veneer that was deteriorating rapidly in the coastal environment. That led us in the direction of reinforcing the foundation, salvaging the Club Room and chimney, and maintaining the height and profile of the structure. We then wove a new insulated shell and residential functions around these elements.
Our hope is that this building represents a continuation of that architectural heritage of shingled structures along the Maine coast but updates it for the 21st century. The Old Yacht Club respects the past while moving the dialogue forward. For us it is not timeless nor is it of the past. Rather it evolved from a place in history and is very much of its time, using historical memory to enhance its sense of place.
The thought problem of Theseus' ship poses the question: at what point does an object cease being that object if all of its pieces are replaced systematically over time? In this project, not only were we required to create new work around the old but we were changing use as well. That led us to draw a hard line between old and new, ensuring that the parts of the Old Yacht Club that remained would be clearly of the past while the new elements would read distinctly.
Historical structures can be challenging to adapt to new uses or integrate with sustainable practices. This project takes a clear stance on old and new. It does not try to replicate the past nor blur the line. Where the historical fabric could be reused it was to the greatest extent possible. This maintains authenticity and respects the integrity of the old. It is an approach that we often champion when grafting onto old structures. They do not need to be turned into museums to respect the past. Architecture can and should evolve to reflect changing needs and technology.
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