MIES - Boat House

Front Porch Vernacular

Oh, I like this.  Soft, subdued and unstressed lighting.  Norwegian nightscape with overcast skies, rocky terrain and a cold winter breeze.  This is tangible.  And the design here from TYIN tengnestue, a Norwegian design firm, captures what it's like to discover surprising ingenuity in a rural setting.

The Boat House at Night

Operable Metal Wall Panels

An Interior of White Metal Trusswork and Dried Wood Sheathing/Flooring

Boathouses in Norway were traditionally used for the storage of boats, but many are converting the older shacks into recreational houses for summer use. This particular boat house is remotely located, but nestled into the hills and protected by the landscape. Because it was worn down and desperately in need of some TLC, the decision was made to tear it down and build anew. Its remote location though made it challenging to bring in new materials, but just because the structure needed to be torn down, didn’t mean that the material wasn’t still worthwhile.

The Full Interior Opening Up

A Nearby Pond for Context

The original boathouse was built right on the ground, so after demolition a new foundation was built between the hills to raise the structure up above the water. Reclaimed wood from the original structure was used to line the interior, while windows from the clients’ nearby farmhouse were incorporated into the design. The exterior is clad in new, locally-sourced Norwegian Pine pressure treated with a product based on environmentally friendly bio-waste from the sugar cane industry. This treatment eliminates the need for any maintenance and will fade to a gray patina over time.

Firewood, Containers and a Cast Iron Cauldron

Detail Showing Batten Roof and Soffit Underneath

One of the most intriguing parts of the design is the movable shutter windows. Simple steel brackets and bolts allow the shutters to swing up to open the room to the exterior. Lights are incorporated inside the shutters, which are covered with simple cotton canvas and when turned on, the shutters glow like a lantern, illuminating both the interior and exterior. Skylights made from the translucent shutters and the windows let light into the interior. Many of the design decisions were made on site during the construction according to the available materials and their relationship with the environment to create a harmonious solution.

Transverse Elevation

Longitudinal Section

Transverse Section

Axonometric

BDCS - Parapet

Parapet Atop King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England

A parapet is a low wall projecting from the edge of a platform, terrace, or roof. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a fire wall or party wall. Historically, parapets were originally used to defend buildings from military attack, but today they are primarily used to prevent the spread of fires. They are also used to aesthetic effect, as in Mission style homes where rounded parapets are often used as decorative features.


The word comes ultimately from the Italian parapetto (parare = to cover/defend and petto =breast). The German term Brustwehr has the same significance. All parapets may be plain embattled, perforated or panelled, which are not mutually exclusive terms:

• Plain parapets are upward extensions of the wall, sometimes with a coping at the top and corbel below.
• Embattled parapets may be panelled, but are pierced, if not purely as stylistic device, for the discharge of defensive projectiles.
• Perforated parapets are pierced in various designs such as circles, trefoils, quatrefoils.
• Panelled parapets are ornamented by a series of panels, either oblong or square, and more or less enriched, but not perforated.
• These are common in the Decorated and Perpendicular periods.

Many firewalls are required to have a parapet, a portion of the wall extending above the roof. The parapet is required to be as fire resistant as the lower wall. It is required to extend at least 30" above the roof. If the roof slopes at a rate of 2 in 12 or greater (16.7-percent slope), the parapet shall extend to the same width as any portion of the floor within a fire separation distance where protection of wall openings is required, but in no case shall the height be less than 30 inches (762 mm).[2] Exterior walls that require to be fire protected are often required to have a parapet, but there are exceptions. *note* If the roofing material is combustible, it must stop 18" minimum from the top of the wall.

A Fortified Parapet at Scotstarvit Tower in Scotland