Linear Puncture

Instructor: Mark Wamble

Designed for the annual Buffalo Bayou Regatta event, the boathouse provides storage, repair and practice

spaces for kayak lovers. The meandering Regatta staging is the spine of the building, directing people

from the parking to the bayou with multiple gentle ramps. On the journey descending to the bayou, people can easily access to all the programs that the boathouse offers.

The project follows the previous case study and applies folded plate. It enables thin wood panels to span up to 70ft without intermediate support. While individual programs are housed under conditioned folded plate shells, storage space flows along the Regatta staging in an unconditioned folded plate shell that is buttressed by the conditioned shells. The punctures of the shell become apertures. A series of descending gardens respond to the punctures and the pushed-out shells. They serve as supplemental pedestrian paths to the bayou, as well as providing views of landscape for the linear shells of folded plates.