Rosewood Park Beach Restoration

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

We integrated four buildings into Rosewood Park's splendid beachfront by blending them into a canonical waterside element—a 1,500ft-long boardwalk that hugs the bottom of the bluff, connecting access points at each end and opening to Lake Michigan along its east side. Program elements are housed in simple, small-scale, low-profile units strung out along the boardwalk like kiosks or pavilions. Building elements are long, low and thin, largely transparent in the north-south direction, and topped with boardwalk planks so that all views up and down the beach and from the park above are fully preserved. At the north, the environmental education pavilion is a large, open space, backed up by a thin service bar containing restrooms and storage. The pavilion's north and south walls are sliding glass doors which open to decks outside, fully connecting it to the boardwalk and allowing views right through the pavilion. Its east wall is mullionless glass, giving an unimpeded view of the lake. Walking south, park users pass tree-shaded benches to reach the welcome pavilion (and life guard office), then move on to an outdoor dining area with seating and tables defined by the refreshment pavilion and the beach restroom pavilion. Materials are natural, simple, durable, easily maintainable, “beachy”: ipe decking, cedar siding, rough field stone, glass.