TFH and MRLD: First Honorable Mention

TFH Architects and MRLD Architecture + Landscape recieved First Honorable Mention for their East End Shoal project submitted for the Portland Society of Architects 2nd Biannual Unbuilt Architecture Awards!

The East End Shoal is an exploration of the dynamics between land, water, geology and the users of the Eastern Promenade. The design of the East End Shoal is an extension of the Promenade terrain and deliberately preserves views of Casco Bay by placing the programmatic uses beneath the extruded landform – a landform informed by geologic faults and folds found in the area.

When viewed from the water, the East End Shoal rises out of the bay recalling nearby granite shores and the historical architecture of forts, breakwaters and lighthouses. The profile of the landform is constantly changing with the tides, emphasizing the fluid nature of the design. At the highest point, the “prow”, the horizontal expanse of glazing, blurs the line between interior and exterior and connects the Event Space activities to Casco Bay.

The raised landform provides shelter for park visitors as well as creating a tunnel event for the Narrow Gauge Railroad. The earth formed reinforced concrete shell combined with vertical and sloping granite faces of the structure should provide the community with a low maintenance facility that should last well into the next century. Protruding granite blocks in the sloped surface will act as wave deflectors to dissipate the surf energy during a nor’easter. Using reclaimed excavated material from simultaneous construction projects on the peninsula the East End Shoal will divert waste from being transported to off peninsula disposal sites.