PEACE OF MIND ON TILGHMAN ISLAND Take an inside look at a recent project on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay from Urban Architects. The design is an elegant solution for a day-spa, indoor pool, and guest house that is both sensitive to it’s environment and a reflection of the site’s history. Rather than demolishing the small, existing garage, the architects designed the new structure to be built around it; encasing the original garage within the new walls. The intent was to create a calm, relaxing, and beautiful space that speaks to the character of the Tilghman Island with a minimal amount of materials and keeping the footprint as small as possible. Situated at the tip of the island, with beautiful views of the sea, every attempt was made to keep the structure as open as possible for daylight and views while allowing for privacy from neighbors and for guests staying in the building. The result is an open and airy retreat where one can come to enjoy the incredible Tilghman landscape.
ISLAND RETREAT By: Chris Urban
THE SITE The site for the project could house, and building the new structure not be any more beautiful. After driving as a retreat for theirselves and their the length of Tilghman Island, you guests. After discussions, the architects come to a dead end gravel road, and proposed a plan to combine the turn onto a long, narrow, tree-lined program of guest space with the spa and driveway. At the end of the drive, the pool. Not only did this move prevent land opens up to a stunning view of the increasing the built footprint on the Cheasapeak Bay. The only obstructions site, but allowed for a more dynamic from a complete view are a small structure with multiple uses. complex of a colonial style home and ...rather than deconstructing the garage, and a small sun porch. At the building to harvest material, they edge of the property, a narrow pier reaches out into the water, reflective of decided to litterally build over and the driveway that leads to the site. around the structure... The owners of the property were interested in removing the garage Urban Architects began with structure and replacing it with an indoor the intention of reusing materials pool and spa, but realized the need for for the demotion on the site for the more guest space in the house. Their new structure. As design progressed, plan was to add an additional guest rather than deconstructing the building room and bathrooms to the existing to harvest material, they decided to
litterally build over and around the structure, using the existing building as the core of the new space. They then designed a wooden truss structure that would sit over top of the rennovated garage, complete with large, open walls to increase the feeling of openess. As you swim in the indoor pool or excerise on the terraced floor, you can still have a connection to nature and to the site. The south facade, which looks directly toward the sea, features a set of operable doors that can litterally open the interior to the exterior to allow the ocean air into the space. The design is meant to increase one’s appreciation of the beautiful Tilghman Island. With the need for continued awareness and betterment of the Cheasapeake Bay, projects like this help the cause by providing elegant sustainable designs.
EXISTING STRUCTURE
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ON THE BAY
BEFORE
SENSITIVITIVE ADAPTATION
AFTER
This section would describe the detail of the design, The rendering below shows the interior of the structure, including the process of transforming the existing building into the and wow if it is not the greatest architecture you have ever and new building. Unfortunatly, I need to sleep for at least two hours will ever see. You are welcome. Do not pay attention to the fact tonight before a thesis review and a national that there are beams running through the walls, conference that I am attending. Eventually I ...the existing garage provides hopefully the rendering is so captivating you do will write this section but at least having english an anchor to the light and not even realize the details like that. But if you text instead of gibberish will make the page did, do not worry, this project is not getting built, transparent new structure... look more completed. If anyone is actually so no one is in danger of having a roof fall on their reading this, you can stop now because the rest of the page is a heads while enjoying a swim or doing some strange yoga positions whole lot of nonsense that I am typing as quickly as possible. that would cause me a world of pain. End of section.
The client wanted a space where they could practice yoga, swim, and relax. The nature of the site made it a perfect place to do so. The building was designed to be a modern but respectful solution to dynamic program and site. This section would explain more about this but if you read anything from the previous page you know that there is not going to be much more intellectual writing in this article. Instead, I am going to talk about the artsy photograph to the right of this text box. Two empty chairs and a fallen tree, looking out onto the bay where a score of fishing boats are out collecting seafood that you may very well have eaten yourself last summer. We had homemade crab cakes while we were visiting the client, they were great.
NORTH ELEVATION
SOUTH ELEVATION
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CHESAPEAKE HEALING The focus of the project was to create a space of relaxation and peace where the client and their guests could enjoy the beautiful site in a calming environment. There was much focus on the idea of physical and spiritual healing with activites such as excericise swimming, yoga, and meditation. The remaining conclusion will be written at a later time, right now it is very late and I need to sleep and wake up very shortly and learn about more of this architecture stuff at a conference
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downtown early in the morning. For now, enjoy the renderings on this page and the image of ducks flying over the site. One interesting piece of information about the site: you cannot build any closer than one hundred feet to the water’s edge on Tilghman Island. This is to help in the reclaimation of the bay shore from years of erosion, pollution, and over fishing. However, two structures are allowed to be built within this limit: piers, and duck blinds.
There are duck blinds all over the island, both in the grasslands and out on the water. Our professors wanted us to design the project on the water and to make the claim that it was a duck blind. There are actually very few regulations as to what a duck blind is, so its possible this could have worked, but we wanted to be realistic and the setback provided a bigger challenge. The project was part of a competition in which our team came in third place. The judges elected for a more modern design.
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