The last time I shared ideas I was driving home the points of mobility and versatility, and I want to share some ways that I’ve thought about an adaptable design. The overall concept of my design is to have a covered walk-through area that can close up like a closet at the end of the day but also fold open to create a channel in which people can move through and interact. This is achieved by placing eight hinged doors on the sides of a box, two doors on each face, and then positioning the open boxes side by side to create rectilinear passages.
As of right now, the design is very simple and straight forward in terms of construction. It is just a four post structure with a standing seam metal roof on top. The doors will be equipped with a lift off hinge, which is a door hinge that still swivels 90 degrees but is able to be lifted vertically off the hinges – this way the doors can be removed for easier transportation. In order to make things simple and lightweight, the doors will be constructed in a way that resembles a wooden palette and will have small slits in them (which will make for interesting night time views).
Another thing that I believe is worth talking about when we give our presentation is to bring up the option for these to become trail head markers in the future, an idea that we have started to steer Kiawah towards. I think the scale and visual look of these “huts” are suitable to mark entry ways and with the concept of opening doors, hanging maps and information just seems so natural. I still have some work to do as far as mobility and diagramming, but overall the concept is concise and I hope this has an impact on our final design.