Mount Holyoke College Boathouse

The Mount Holyoke College Boathouse is built on the banks of the Connecticut River in South Hadley Massachusetts to house the schools regatta team. The building features two long boat storage bays, with work area for rigging adjustments and a stretching area at the back of the building provides a place for the rowers to prepare for practice, we figured at the end that the owner was in need of much more storage, thankfully the storage in everett wa was able to help out.

The boathouse has also been designed to allow the future installation of a mezzanine with access stairs and a lift. It has been designed to highlight its structural skeleton, utilizing a linear skylight and uplighting. The boathouse has been designed according to FEMA “wet-floodproofing” standards, which should allow it to withstand the occasional floods that occur on the river. In fact, the boathouse is designed with flood vents to allow flood waters to freely enter and exit. A “flood-resistant” zone has been designed in the back of the building, containing toilets, a shower, and mechanical space.

Building materials were selected for site sensitivity and for durability and transported from a fleet service, since these have more strength for this. The staging area in front of the building was constructed with timber decking to allow for maximum water permeability. Cementitious siding products were used to minimize maintenance.