STORE
Spring 2017 | Coastal Heritage Preserve | Galveston Island TX
Project Team: Ryan Carlisle, Emily Chaney, Clayton Cain, Sadie Dubicki, Samantha Gutteridge, Haley Lovelady, Chloe Malek, Marsden Merkle, Renica Naeva, Marriene Ondo, Alexandra Padila, Anjulie Palta, Julie Patterson, Ian Randall, Yee (Fiona) Sang Wong
The spring 2017 studio partnered with Artist Boat a nonprofit collective on Galveston Island. Their program takes place on the 690-acre Coastal Heritage Preserve where part of their mission is to re-establish native prairie grasses and help protect the wetlands of West Galveston Bay. Artist Boat hosts groups of many ages for guided walks, bird-watching and kayak excursions. But their main focus is on ecological literacy for middle and high school students, primarily from inner-city schools in the region. Artist Boat believes that by getting students out into the landscape they’ll learn to embrace and respect the beauty of their local environment.
Kayaking is key to this hands-on and feet-in environmental education approach. On three-hour kayak adventures. students learn from biologists, ecologists and master naturalists about carbon sequestration, the effects of climate change, pollution and sea-level rise. Through discussion, water-coloring and water sampling while in their kayaks, students are taught the importance of marine protection and how to become better stewards of their environment.
As their program has grown, Artist Boat needed a place on the Preserve to permanently store their kayaking equipment. At the same time, they needed a shaded structure where visitors could discuss what they’d learned from their kayaking trips. The Gulf Coast DesignLab took on the task of providing such a place. The program called for a secure storage area suited for sixteen tandem kayaks, life-vest, paddles, water-coloring kits and educational tools. They also asked for an informal area where as many as twenty-five students could sit in the shade and have discussions about what they’d experienced.The new facility was to be just yards from the water with a sandy beach, where kayaks could easily be put in and taken out.
Store uses materials that will weather well in the harsh salt climate. The structure is screened using number-4 steel reinforcing bars welded by the students and hung on the steel structure. These and the cor-ten sheathed storage area are left to rust as another way to find sympathy with the native grasses. The screen re-bars are double thick and dense at the enclosed storage area. But as they move westward toward the raised wood deck they become more widely spaced to allow more open views out to the prairie. The kayaks are secured behind a pair of rolling doors that open to allow full room for storing the kayaks. Paddles, vests, and art equipment are stored in the enclosed lockup. Hot-dipped galvanized steel frames denote rhythm, while overhead an open-framed 950 SF roof further expresses the tectonics of the structure. A raised wood platform on the western end is oriented to frame the setting sun.
The City of Galveston recognized this project with a Design & Planning Award for 2019