Intersecting circles make up the Chatham Pond Pavilion, which was designed by US studio Desai Chia Architecture to be a wildlife-viewing station on a private property in Upstate New York.
Photographs and drawings
Photographs and drawings
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Located in the rural town of Chatham, the pavilion sits within an 80-acre (32-hectare) property belonging to a couple with grown children.
New York City-based Desai Chia Architecture has designed other structures for the site, including a main house, guest dwelling, livestock barn and large greenhouse.
A meandering path leads to the pavilion, which is perched on the edge of a spring-fed pond formerly used for agricultural purposes.
“Once used as a livestock watering hole, it has now been remediated and restored as a natural wetland haven for wildlife, birds, fish and pollinators,” said Desai Chia Architecture.
In addition to wetland creatures, the area is populated with bears, foxes, deer, raccoons and possums.
To minimise disruption to the habitat, the architects conceived a viewing structure lifted above the ground.
The 380-square-foot (35-square-metre) pavilion is shaped like the number eight in plan and is composed of two platforms of differing heights.
The higher platform extends over the water, allowing visitors to “observe natural wetland habitats at the pond, as well as activity in the forest beyond”.
The structure is topped with a sculptural canopy made of three intersecting, hollowed-out cylinders.
“The intersecting forms were inspired by overlapping concentric ripples of water created when raindrops fall on the pond’s surface,” the team said.
One of the cylinders has a solid roof with a solar-powered ceiling fan, with a PV array atop the roof.
The pavilion is constructed of galvanised steel columns and curved steel beams, which were fitted together on-site. The canopy is clad in standing-seam panels made of 98 per cent recycled aluminium.
“The exterior of each cylinder is finished in a luminous satin grey, reflecting the surrounding forest and sky, while the interior is coated in a copper finish that casts a warm glow within,” the team said.
The pavilion sits on the southwest corner of the pond, enabling it to be shaded in the afternoon and to capture dramatic views at dusk.
“As the sun sets, the light rakes across the pond from the west and lights up the forest canopy to the east, giving the pavilion an ideal sight line to the glowing row of trees and through the illuminated understorey,” the team said.
Other projects by Desai Chia Architecture include a New York home with crisp silhouettes and cedar cladding, and a Connecticut residence with courtyards for exhibiting artwork.
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