The Grove Design Charrette

The project took place at Bartram's Garden, where our team was assigned a plot of land to design a structure opening guests to new perspectives. The stilts provided by the charrette not only gave us a new perspective for research by walking with them but were then repurposed to be the construction materials in our final structure.

With our plot of land that extended into the Schuylkill River, we developed a dock-like structure that participated in the nature surrounding the land and river. We called this structure “The Grove”. The purpose of The Grove was to build into nature in a symbiotic way that mimicked Bartram’s Garden’s relationship with the land. While much of the Schuylkill was overtaken by industry and shipping companies, Bartram’s Garden stood strong and maintained a natural riverside along its land. We wanted The Grove to reflect this conversation between nature and industry on the Schuylkill.

The tall spokes that extend out into the river form a path that rises and falls with the swell of the river, creating a new viewing experience every time someone visits. The Grove acts as a maze for discovery, with exciting moments where the user gets glimpses of nature, but is mostly enclosed in this web of spokes until they reach the end of the path, revealing a wide opening to show off the Philadelphia skyline rising out of the nature along the Schuylkill.

Focusing on core principles created clear goals for this project. We wanted to enhance the conversation between nature and industry along the Schuylkill and give users hidden moments that built up into a grand reveal. The natural shape of The Grove’s pathways and the randomness of the spokes made it less intrusive to the natural environment while also obscuring site lines until someone reaches the end of the path.