Glen Foerd Boathouse
Design and construction of a non-combustible interpretation of the historical boathouse which sat on the same seawall foundations before being destroyed by fire in the late 1980's.
This building, on the grounds of the historic Glen Foerd Mansion Estate on theDelaware Riverin northeast Philadelphia, is an important destination on the estate’s riverside promenade, affording visitors the opportunity to walk out over the river on the roof deck above the club room and lower boat storage bay.
An open roof structure made of finely crafted wood covered the original promenade look-out. It has been brought back to life with carefully detailed steel framing members which provide silhouette profiles reminiscent of the old wood joinery. Fiber cement siding and trim replicate the scale and articulation of the original painted wood clapboards.
A K Architecture specializes in expressing a building’s structure through its architectural language. They enjoy abstracting traditional design details and rethinking them with contemporary materials and technology. Glen Foerd Boat House was a great opportunity to play with the concepts of new and old to make something that will last well into the future.