This project called for a field station on Horse Island, a protected island owned by Yale University for research purposes and part of the Thimble Island chain a few miles off the Connecticut shoreline. With the project I chose to focus on the idea of habitat on the island. The design provides a constructed habitat for conditions that already exist on the island (tidepools, bird nesting areas, etc.), but is concentrated in a specific area for new research. Physical access to the rest of the island is limited to only the program pieces that require it. A system of walls and strategic patterning acts as a vehicle for the habitat and responds to the requirements for inhabitation, but also to structure. The walls serve as a framework for enclosed program volumes and the apertures within them are spaced in such a way so as to support the primary structure of the volumes. A modular prefabricated concrete system is employed for the production of the walls.
Text and images from:Kristin Mueller
