We were commissioned to design a Marina Operations Center/ Member’s Club and Restaurant in Amesbury.
Amesbury has a wonderful, eclectic mix of early pre, post-colonial architecture. It is this rich architectural fabric of which we hope to extract a design aesthetic which is both contemporary and complimentary to Amesbury. Materiality, massing, form and fenestration (window and door openings), interpreted contemporarily, will blend the new marina operation building and restaurant into the surrounding community and waterfront. The massing will be broken down in a way that will open up view corridors and minimize the visual impact of the commercial use. The intended interpretation of the massing will be that of expansion and growth experienced over time with historic architecture, as evidenced by multiple additions responding to the progression of technology.
The new structure pick ups on elements existing on Amesbury’s extant building icons such as the expressive ironwork of the Main Street Swing Bridge, expressed in the restaurant main entry canopy; The Amesbury Train Station’s (currently Crave restaurant) hip roof and Victorian massing/ detail, expressed in the proposed roof forms and clerestory windows together with low-slung horizontality. The materiality of Lowell’s Boat Shop will be expressed in façade treatments and the proposed tower element will reflect the tower focal elements of Mill 2 and 8, just two of the many mills, adapted for contemporary use, which dotted the waterfront of Amesbury during its heyday as a textile giant. The focal tower element anchors the main entry and acts as a beacon for out-of-town visitors crossing the Main Street Bridge, from the south and persons navigating the Merrimack River.
The Marina Operations Center/ Member’s Club and Restaurant, Marker 34, invigorates and activates a current, non-accessible commercial site with public access amenities and rich contemporary landscape design. The Marina aspires to be a welcome, valuable contributor to Amesbury’s village charm and history.