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Located within the newly revitalized Steigereiland neighborhood, the first of the IJburg islands when approaching from central Amsterdam, the Sluishuis references the industrial and maritime heritage of the area, as well as its vernacular architecture. The architects wanted it to feel like a traditional European courtyard house was enlarged, modernized, and adapted for the canal-centric landscape of Amsterdam. The 527,000-square-foot building juts out over the waterfront on the outskirts of the city, with a triangular opening acting as a “gate” through which 54 boats can dock at an inner port.

The units on this cantilevered side of the building feature glass balconies over the water, giving them incredible views looking either outward at the city or inward at the courtyard and its gardens. The apartments at the rear of the building step down to the docks, each with its own spacious outdoor terrace. A promenade winds around the building, inviting visitors — including the public — to climb all the way up to the rooftop gardens and gaze out at the new neighborhoods on the IJ. It also connects to an archipelago of public program elements like mooring points for 34 houseboats, floating gardens, and a sailing school.

Native plants emerge from giant planters and climb the facades throughout the complex, and large windows draw daylight into all corners of the building. Untreated aluminum reflects the play of light across the water, helping the Sluishuis blend into its environment. The units include duplex penthouses, urban studios, and premium apartments, and all of the homes are accessed through the central courtyard. All 442 apartments are energy-neutral, and power for the building comes from 2,200 square meters (about 75,347 square feet) of solar panels.

“With iconic architecture, as well as new housing typologies, high-quality outdoor spaces, and breathtaking views of the IJmeer, Sluishuis is a new landmark for IJburg as well as Amsterdam,” says Dirk Peters, a founding partner at Barcode Architects. “We have tried to design a building with a surprisingly changing perspective and a unique contemporary character, which reflects the identity of the future residents and all users of Sluishuis.”

“Having spent my formative years as an architect in Holland at the end of the 20th century, it feels like a homecoming to now get to contribute to the architecture of the city that I have loved and admired for so long,” says Bjarke Ingels, founding partner of BIG.

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With the help of their team, Lead Design Partners José Cláudio Silva and Peter Barrett effectively created that image with the curved, double-paned glass superstructure. And thanks to lower semi-circular tiers, the profile of the resort also closely resembles the silhouette of a luxury yacht.

Located in the Bai Trao District on the northwest edge of Hon Thom Island, the resort will be owned and operated by the Sun Group. Its “integrated resort and hospitality” features will spread along 50 acres of the tropical archipelago, picturesquely nestled between coastal beaches and lush mountain jungles.

The resort’s visual beacon, the tower sail will house luxury suites across the curvature of its double-skin glass facade, giving guests premium views of both the watery horizon and the forested hillside slopes. Visitors can also enjoy a ship deck-shaped viewing area and native gardens on lower floors, connecting the fluid sailing vibe of the tower to the resort’s main levels.

Guests will be able to access the resort through multiple travel methods: there are dozens of private and VIP marinas, a public jetty, a helipad, and a cable car route connecting the island to the larger neighboring island of Phu Quoc.

The greater resort will include luxury hotels, townhouses, beachside and clifftop residential villas, as well as beach clubs and water sports, all with stunning panoramas of the Gulf of Thailand. A host of infinity pools, gardens, linear parks, and coastal promenades helps to “blur the boundary between nature and architecture.” Public spaces, pool decks, and retail stores will be covered in rustic shingled roofs, exposed woodwork, and natural stone to further obscure the line between the natural and the manmade. At its northernmost end, a Fisherman’s wharf will support retail shops and walkways, designed into glass volumes attached to stone blocks made to look like they are rising out of the sea.

10 Design is an internationally renowned studio with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Edinburgh, Dubai, Miami, London, Shenzhen, and Singapore. Since its founding in 2010, the company has completed masterplanning, landscaping, and interior work in over 60 cities across four continents, winning more than 80 awards and major design competitions in the process.

The firm is particularly proud of this latest design as it marks “an important milestone” and the “first major project completed by our 10 Design Singapore studio,” explains Barry Shapiro, the group’s Managing Partner in Asia. “We are excited to complete the masterplan and concept design for Hon Thom Island, which will serve as one of the beachside jewels of the local Phu Quoc region as well as the world-class waterfront hospitality and lifestyle destination.

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The property’s history as a former fish market and proximity to the Peconic Bay inspired the “boatel” concept. Juul-Hansen wanted the hotel to be deeply rooted in its waterfront setting, offering just as many boat slips as guest suites (20 of each). Its exterior is clad in cedar shingles (much like the vernacular architecture of the North Fork area) and is surrounded by decks offering views of the bay and marina. Guests can borrow pale blue beach cruisers for a pleasant ten-minute ride down to Southold, the nearest village, or book trips on The Shoals’ 28-foot vintage Chris Craft charter boat.

Picnic tables dot the grassy front lawn, and lounge chairs line the edge of the property along the water. A fire pit with a ring of deck chairs sparks to life after dark, and the hotel even has its very own food truck offering lobster rolls and soft serve. The outdoor lounge slings cocktails beside a grand piano with incredible water views. Swim in the bay, take a cruise on a boat, or spend the day fishing and then rinse off at the outdoor shower before heading inside, where yet another grand piano and leather sofas invite you to sink down and chat with fellow guests.

Juul-Hansen has distilled the area’s nautical heritage into a distinct flavor that’s all The Shoals’ own, rendered in soft shades of blue and sandy beige. Textural jute, rattan, linen, and wood lathe set off the smoothness of leather and polished stone, which particularly shines in the lobby’s sculptural front desk. Crisp white bedding, wood floors, and expressive framed art make the bedrooms feel serene. Some rooms have balconies or decks facing the water. The suites feature kitchenettes almost as spacious and comfortable as your own at home, with pale backsplash tiles glimmering like the insides of oyster shells.

Speaking of oysters, one of the coolest aspects of The Shoals is its commitment to bringing back the working waterfront that once thrived at this location. The owners have partnered with Little Ram Oyster Company, a local woman-owned business, to turn its former Scallop Shack into a fully operational oyster business. They plan to host private shucking workshops, host off-site oyster farm tours, and sell kits of unshucked oysters along with supplies to open them. On Wednesdays, their food truck will turn into the Shuck Shack, offering an oyster happy hour.

“The owners of Little Ram Oyster Company, Elizabeth Peeples and Stefanie Bassett, are stewards in the oyster development and advancement in Southold, and we thought they’d be great partners,” co-owner Jonathan Tibet told Travel + Leisure. “They are excited to serve the most craveable oyster experience on the North Fork while also sharing their knowledge with our guests through on-site educational opportunities.”

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For decades, this area has no longer served its purpose as a port system, since the waters are too shallow for modern ships. It grew derelict over time and felt disconnected from the community. Today, it’s becoming a lively destination full of interesting architecture that combines older existing buildings with new construction. Project Harbour Club is one of those buildings, boasting three massive salvaged wine silos converted into rooftop homes as its defining feature.

Dutch firm LEVS architecten turned the original low-lying 1901 dock terminal facility and wine warehouse into a nightclub and restaurant that connects to a new six-story L-shaped residential building, which hugs it on two sides. The project offers 81 starter homes, three luxury townhouses, and five live/work homes, as well as the event spaces. Placing a booming club adjacent to housing might seem like poor planning, but the architects integrated a ton of soundproofing as well as buffer spaces in between, reducing vibrations and sound.

The architects explain that “the Harbour Club’s new event space is located on the lower three floors on the Cruquiusweg. Using the box-in-a-box principle, the space has been completely disconnected from the other functions in the building in order to prevent noise nuisance. The box with its own foundation consists of a steel frame with precast concrete. Above it, houses with a through lounge float, supported by four 16-meter-long beams. A second, glass skin also forms a buffer zone and serves as a foyer.”

During renovations to remove an adjacent 1990s industrial hall, the architects uncovered the original brick facade of the building, which lends a sense of age and texture to the restaurant along with the wine warehouse’s old wooden beams. The preserved porthole-style windows enhance the building’s connection to its shipping industry history. Planted with mossy sedum, the roof of this structure is now a shared outdoor space for residents of the building.

Naturally, those huge industrial wine silos are the star of the show. They once stored wine destined for the Dutch market, and they had to be decontaminated and lifted over a line of trees to be installed. “They have been preserved as icons of the island’s history and have been given a new function as elevated luxury town houses,” the architects add. “The three-story dwellings stand on a communal roof terrace in a green landscape. They are rotated slightly to provide the best possible view from the new panoramic window.”

The residents of these luxury units might have the best views of all, but the “starter homes” definitely aren’t bad, either. Some are studios set above the event hall, and others cantilever 16 feet over the old warehouse on the restaurant side. Their half-covered balconies offer privacy while overlooking the harbor and green roof.

“Harbour Club is a multi-level challenge: technically, programmatically, and architecturally,” the architects say. “The combined necessities of affordable densification, restoration of monuments, [and] climate mitigation and adaptation need to be addressed simultaneously. Harbour Club is a contemporary answer, characterized by unconventional solutions.”

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Petr Janda of Brainwork Studio is the principal architect of the three-phase project, which starts with the renovation of 20 vaults set into the Rašín and Hořejší embankments in the area known as Náplavka. These hollowed-out spaces are referred to by the Czech government as “dungeons,” and in the past likely served as storage spaces for ice and goods arriving and departing in ships along the river. Now, they’ve been converted into shops, galleries, cafés, workshops, and public restroom facilities with curving walls and ceilings made of sandblasted concrete.

Six of the vaults have the stunning 5.5-meter (18-foot) pivoting windows in place of doors, which open at an offset angle and allow customers to step within their plastered minimalist interiors. Stepped stone details at the base of each arched doorway disguise elements like air conditioning ducts and flood prevention features. The rest of the vaults on the Hořejší embankment boast sculptural blackened steel doors. Each one has a multipurpose freestanding furniture unit that can function as a reception desk or bar counter, and the individual businesses occupying them are free to customize them as they like. At night, when the glass-fronted vaults are aglow, they draw in curious passersby who come to the area for farmers’ markets, exhibitions, concerts, and theater performances.

The next two phases of the restoration project, also spearheaded by Brainwork Studio, will include a floating pool (echoing the historical placement of swimming pools along the Vltava embankment) and a terminal for cruise ships. The floating pool facility is supported by a structural system of steel ribs, and the deck “appears boundless, thanks to its infinite water surface,” with a variety of depths suitable for different users and types of swimming. Floating restroom facilities that visually complement the pool will also be included in the design, accessible directly from the riverbank promenade.

The terminal will function as an amphibious intersection between the bank and the river, its appearance drawing from the visual character and traditional shapes of shipbuilding.

“Its predominant feature is the balance between the (in)visibility of the terminal and its strong architectural design derived from the nautical morphology, as well as the visual mimicry connecting the terminal with its native environment,” says Janda. “Thanks to the optical effect created by the deck edges tapering into cutting edges, it dematerializes more on both sides, which is emphasized by the reflection of the water and sky on both surfaces of the terminal wings. The basic shape is based on the spatial rotation of three propeller blades, which was further shaped with regard to the functional arrangement of the building.”

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Designed in collaboration by the firms Atelier Oslo and Lundhagem Architects, the library has serious curb appeal for visitors arriving from Oslo’s central station, with its stepped and cantilevered upper story jutting out 65 feet. Plus, the building’s facade combines glass windows and translucent walls, and after dark, the whole structure glows.

Inside, the floor plan revolves around a central atrium going all the way up to the building’s striking honeycomb-patterned concrete ceilings and skylights. Every level has access to daylight and lots of wide-open spaces, but there are cozy reading nooks to be found, too. The building feels enormous, but not in a way that’s necessarily overwhelming or uninviting. Instead, it feels like a bit of an adventure, offering much to be discovered.

In addition to all those books, the library features a theater, a podcast studio, instrument stations to learn how to play music, space for ongoing art installations, a cinema, an auditorium, a canteen, and a restaurant. And of course, the cantilevered level on the sixth floor has plenty of seating and tables near the windows to take in the sweeping views.

Atelier Oslo and Lundhagem won a 2009 competition to design the building, which had options for the library to be placed on two different sites near the Opera House. They chose the more challenging and limiting site, but it paid off, especially in the way their design’s unusual silhouette reflects on the water at night.

“The librarians wanted a house that would inspire visitors to explore all the new facilities and activities the modern library can offer,” explains the Lundhagem team. “This motivated us to create an open and intriguing building in which you are constantly invited around the next corner to discover new places. With its central location in Bjørvika, the new library is set to become a vibrant hub — a modern meeting place for learning and exchange of knowledge.”

“The site is relatively small. In order to avoid building too many floors, the building cantilevers out above its footprint: the first floor above the street to the east, and the fourth floor almost 20 meters out above the urban plaza, creating a protective covering. Three ‘light shafts’ cut diagonally through the building from each of the entrances, giving a glimpse into different sections of the library. The light shafts connect the floors and distribute daylight downwards from three big skylights in the roof.”

The library will receive an estimated two million annual visitors with a capacity of 3,000, though for the time being, only 1,000 people will be allowed inside at any one time due to the pandemic. It officially opened its doors this summer.

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Apparitions are usually pretty tough to explain to those around you, but in the case of the Ghost Ship, it’s something everyone looking at Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Bridge can witness. The temporary art installation is stationed there for public viewing from now until the first week in November.

Aligning perfectly with the month associated with all things ghastly, the Ghost Ship sits in the river between Race Street Pier and Pier 12 and is visible every Wednesday through Sunday night. The illusion is created with the help of mist fountains anchored beneath the surface of the water. The hazy sails are brought to life using lighting projected from a nearby platform.

Designers of the art installation intentionally set it up so that the ship’s port side would be visible from Race Street Pier, while its bow can be seen from the nearby Columbus Boulevard. For added folly, a pop-up Ghost Ship beer garden sits on the waterfront on evenings when the ship appears.

It’s not a hallucination caused by beer goggles, though. Instead, a lot of planning and preparation went into bringing the piece to the river. It’s the first result of the Delaware River Waterfront Corp.’s new Waterfront Arts Program, which aims to explore the history and diversity of the area through works of art. With this in mind, organizers opened up a call for exhibitions that represented that goal.

“We’ve always had cultural events like fireworks displays at the waterfront,” says DRWC President Joe Forkin. “So we started to think about how art complements the waterfront and how it can bring new audiences here.” The council debated, scrutinized, and brainstormed ideas until they agreed to focus on past and present communities affected by the Delaware River as a theme for the works.

The exhibition call was answered by Ryan Strand Greenberg, a public art curator and photographer from the area. Having visited an inspirational light display in Amsterdam with a similar theme, Greenberg reached out to Biangle Studio (based in Estonia), who agreed to modify their original work to represent the history of migration in the area during the 18th century — when the river was used to carry products like cocoa beans and crude oil, as well as both free and enslaved people.

“This particular time period was really important to the city’s development,” Greenberg explains. “It contributed to the social fabric of Philadelphia.”

The team studied ships from the target era until they decided on the final model. They then hired local engineering firm Pennoni to obtain permits, anchor the lighting, install a submersible power cable in the river itself, and mount lights on nearby properties.

“It was a pretty neat project for us, because this is the kind of project that our guys don’t get to work on every day,” says David DeLizza, President and CEO of Pennoni.

The installation will be visible from 7 to 10 PM on all the aforementioned evenings, and onlookers can even enjoy a self-guided tour via smartphone on SoundCloud, as accessed through the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation’s official website.

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Tekuma Frenchman consists of Kun Qian and Marwan Aboudib, two dual-degree students from the MIT Center for Real Estate (CRE) and the Department of Architecture, along with their professor Dennis Frenchman and urban designer Naomi Hebert. The firm’s other projects include the Seoul Digital Media City in South Korea and the Digital Mile in Zaragoza, Spain.

Ocean’s Edge is designed as a 21st century “ocean living edge” with integrated flood prevention strategies that will help revitalize the area’s coastal ecology even amidst a gargantuan development.

Much of the architecture and infrastructure will float or be built directly above the water, while some occupies the existing coastline. But all of it is set amidst replanted mangrove trees and other natural means of protecting the shore and creating more space for local wildlife. Putting so much of the city on piers, islands, and floating structures will also minimize the need to alter the coastal environment too much, which could disrupt the flow of water very easily.

The inclusion of the native mangroves is a key part of the Ocean’s Edge project, according to MIT. They say: “Tekuma Frenchman’s design will regenerate an indigenous mangrove forest to protect the shoreline from waves, retain soil, support biodiversity, and help clean the water. The design also provides a habitat for fish. The growth of the forest will be monitored by sensors controlling the mix of freshwater runoff with salt water, ensuring an ideal habitat for optimum growth of marine fauna and flora. In this way, Ocean’s Edge both senses and responds to the natural environment.”

“Sea-level rise and storm surge from the South China Sea is a concern in Shenzhen. Ocean’s Edge helps prevent flooding by using the regenerated mangrove forest as a natural protection from storm surge.”

“There’s a sustainable matrix into which this contemporary city is built,” Frenchman adds.

Another aim of the city is the promotion of a high-tech marine-based economy. An industrial area located on the water will house research and development for deep-sea exploration and resource extraction using autonomous undersea vehicles.

In addition to all the housing and amenities you’d expect to find in any other city, the marine development creates a new multi-level street network connected to an underground metro system, which itself separates freight and logistics vehicles from pedestrians through an elevated central spine and a peripheral ring that slopes toward the water.

The centerpiece of Ocean’s Edge is a pier that extends activities from the world’s largest convention center directly to the waterfront, hosting entertainment and exhibition venues like a deep-sea aquarium, clubs, water sports, and cinemas along with offices, restaurants, and a ferry terminal.

“Over the years we have been researching and implementing a new methodology to design cities that celebrate production, making places that are human-centric and productive,” says Kun Qian. “We believe that the future is moving toward a productive urbanism, where companies from all economic sectors also participate in the shaping of our public realm and creating unique experiences for people. The Ocean Edge proposal is a great testimony to this approach.”

Work has already begun on the site, with some of the most important foundations set to be constructed by 2022. Still, the city itself is expected to take about 20 years to fully complete.

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After years of ideas and proposals from the community to resuscitate the Harlem riverfront in New York City, Foster + Partners recently announced a major renovation project in the area’s Sherman Creek Park. When completed, the new boathouse there will help Row New York’s free and inexpensive youth programs prosper, which means more kids will be able reap the physical and character-building rewards of competitive rowing. Even better, they’ll have access to new educational programs designed to guide them through the college admissions process.

Harlem River History

For many years, the nine-mile Harlem River tidal channel between Manhattan and The Bronx has been dubbed “New York’s Forgotten Waterfront.” As recently as the early 20th century, the river was a thriving fishing and crabbing community, with many timber boathouses lined up along its banks. But time eventually turned the area into a desolate mixture of communal dumps, abandoned vehicles, freight trains, chop shops, and struggling small industries.

Community Efforts

Locals and city officials alike have been racking their brains trying to figure out how to breathe new life into the district, with new parks, restored marshes and beaches, and a even labyrinth of bike paths slowly popping up over the last few years.

The new Foster + Partners boathouse is expected to bring even more people to the shore, and make sure the Harlem River waterfront is remembered fondly into infinity. Most importantly, it’ll allow Row New York to significantly increase its influence, helping up to five times as many students, including those with learning disabilities and physical limitations. Plus, for the first time ever, the organization will be able to house all its programs in one central location.

New Beginnings with Classic Features

The 1,600-square-foot Foster + Partners design, spearheaded by the firm’s iconic Founder and Executive Chairman Norman Foster, is made exclusively from wood. A huge plaza surrounds the main structure, with folding ramps leading to all levels. Flood-resistant boat storage on the lower level is topped with an oversized multi-use hall, which itself is flanked by classrooms and changing rooms and opens to a broad terrace with panoramic views of the river.

A great folding timber canopy floats over the entire boathouse, protecting both its terrace and plaza from the harsh summer sun. The unique lattice design of the covering casts mottled shadows over the structure, and over the bordering landscaped areas that play host to community events and performances, casual picnicking, and overall family fun.

Natural Bonuses

It appears that nature uncannily “knows” that a new era is dawning for the Harlem River shore. Locals claim that fishing has never been better in the area, with ample numbers of eel, catfish, toadfish, porgies, flounder, and striped bass being caught there in recent months, along with crabs, mussels, oysters, and clams. There have also been reports that about 45 assorted species of birds have been frequenting the shore as of late.

Foster’s Vision

Norman Foster’s visualization of what his group seeks to accomplish with this project is clear. He explains: “In envisioning a design for a boathouse that will serve a diverse population and be a resource to the community at large, I wanted to create a building that was both functional and accessible, but also one that responded to the Hudson River’s long history as a busy transportation hub. This timber boathouse will fit naturally into the landscape of the riverfront and will transform this stretch of the Harlem River into a lively gathering place for people from all communities.”

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Ever since Scotland’s first design museum, the Kengo Kuma-designed V&A Dundee, opened its doors in September 2018, it’s served as a prime example of landscape inspired architecture done right. To achieve this feat, a work of architecture must do three things: draw from the surrounding culture, become part of the physical landscape, and stand out while seamlessly blending in.

Taking design inspiration from a landscape requires a certain understanding of the area around it. In the case of V&A Dundee, the architects chose to celebrate the rocky cliffs on Northern Scotland’s Orkney Island. There, the rock randomly meets the water’s edge as the waves crash against it, causing the stratification that gives the cliff faces such orderly horizontal textures. In a similar fashion, the southern part of V&A Dundee rises and stretches out above the water, breaking the flat plane between land and sea with a jagged edge of its own.

When a building is made to look like a part of its surrounding landscape or draws inspiration from locations of topographical importance, it also has to do a good job of fitting the context. One cannot look at the forms of V&A Dundee, for instance, and not think that they resemble a ship. It looks like it’s supposed to be there — not like a foreign object that has descended from space. Even the texture of the concrete blends in with the color of the water, depending on the quality of the sunlight and the ripple of the waves on the River Tay. Yes, V&A Dundee looks like it has existed for decades, even though it’s less than a year old.

Finally, good landscape-inspired buildings are seen without being seen. This is similar to being part of the landscape but goes even further in the way of not looking out of place. Even inside the main hall where the café and shop are, the narrow and short ribbon windows make V&A Dundee seem like the inside of a ship. This gives the visitor a more natural feeling than the regular fenestration found on the building’s second level, where the permanent Scottish Design Galleries are. Where one feels like a ship next to a river, the other feels like a building next to the river. And while we may have become used to both experiences, the former feels much more real and appropriate in this context. To top it all off, the modesty of the building’s exterior allows it to recede into the surroundings and at times become unnoticeable.

Think of all the waterfront projects that go out of their way to make a bold statement with nonsensical, disproportionate forms and flashy materials. But not V&A Dundee. No, this museum shows how even the humility of a landscape can be transformed into architecture, continuing the story of the land in the most natural way possible.

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In New York, one can find relaxation in the middle of Central Park, since its size and countless trees provide a nice buffer from the commotion happening all over Manhattan. But not so much in the much smaller Union Square Park, where a car horn blown on the eastern side could be heard quite well from the western side. Nonetheless, people continue to frequent the latter precisely because they’re so desperate to unwind.

In Tampa, “Form of Wander” is set on a concrete pier above the Hillsborough River, right by Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. In 2018, it opened as a place of quiet reflection for the surrounding communities. From a distance, its aluminum structure and green hues give off an otherworldly appearance, but it’s actually meant to resemble a group of inverted Floridian mangroves. Commissioned by Hillsborough County Public Art and designed by THEVERYMANY, the public art piece is made from 3,123 individual parts that have been riveted together. Given a look of perpetual swirling despite the fact that it’s standing still, From of Wander has already proven its sturdiness by withstanding the brutal category-four winds of Hurricane Michael.

Rising from the pier are seven trunks, each dividing the waterfront pathway into three distinct sections. Each trunk connects to the others high up in the air, going around and through gaps to form a net of glistening green metal. During the day, shadows move below and around the piece with total unpredictability. At night, Form of Wander glows under the recessed lights that line the surrounding area. It works as both a canopy and a signal to all those looking to gather and (most importantly) relax.

“A destination for your Sunday stroll, a meeting point for your morning runs, [and] an obstacle course for games of tag,” reads the website of THEVERYMANY. In a way, it’s kind of like placing several trees smack dab in the middle of the river. It’s an added layer of peace in a spot that was already tranquil, and it gives the wanderer a reason to venture out above the water and experience a unique part of the city’s pier network.

Cities know how to develop busy destinations, but they don’t always know how to do it successfully. When this happens, the result is most commonly visual pollution in the form of electronic advertising, flashing notices, and bright brand names. Creating a place that promotes relaxation, especially in a space of nothingness like the middle of a river, requires more a more nuanced solution. In Tampa, Florida, that solution took the form of public art.

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In keeping with that reasoning, local firms Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Wraight + Associates chose not to remove all traces of industry from the 4.4-acre site, instead shining a light on some of the area’s weathered and rustic patinas. Visit the waterfront’s Wynward Quarter today, and you’ll find disused pipes coming out of the ground, with pedestrians sauntering all around them on a concourse embedded into the concrete. By keeping the shipping, ferrying, and fishing activities of Jellicoe Harbour in plain sight, the industrial workings of the waterfront create a one-of-a-kind atmosphere around the public spaces.

There are no real monuments on the site — only multifunctional public spaces like small-scale picnic areas, playgrounds, and a marketplace that accommodates hundreds of people. Here, melodies trickle out of community pianos to mingle with the savory scents of steamed fish, creating a joyous atmosphere that’s only punctuated by the occasional blast of a far-off boat horn. Whenever a festival is held on the waterfront, surrounding silos and shipping structures are used as projection surfaces for visuals.

A recently opened school in Copenhagen was built near the docks of that city so that its students would gain an appreciation for the global economy and better understand the importance of shipping in Denmark. Like that project, the North Wharf Promenade and Silo Park are intended to instill a sense of national pride and cultural understanding in the locals, helping them see exactly why life by the water is important to their city and country. A similar scheme is currently being planned for Oakland, California, but with a baseball stadium as the focal point.

The authenticity of the waterfront, with its rusted metals, crumbling concrete, and scratched stone, is exactly what people like about it. A more sanitized version that presented cleaner public spaces would have been far too boring and corporate for people to enjoy. By keeping the area’s industrial elements and processes in view, the area feels natural —and not like a forced destination that relies on run-of-the-mill designs.

The renovated Wynward Quarter is just one of many projects that proves that an industrial waterfront does not have to be transformed into another pricey enclave to be successful. Such a project would not be popular, solely because people would not find it interesting.

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Built by principal architect James Cutler for his own use, the outbuilding is located just down a damp, verdant trail from his home, on a tiny plot formerly occupied by an old tool shed. He tore it down himself and commissioned his 12-year-old daughter to help him lay the concrete foundation and build the framing out of rough-sawn Douglas firs from a local sawmill. In the beginning, he envisioned the cabin as a design studio for himself that could double as a bunkhouse for his daughter and her friends.

To this end, the studio is highly adaptable. Though it measures a mere 80 square feet, it enjoys a feeling of spaciousness aided by generous glazing and multiple fold-away surfaces built by a local craftsman. One of the platforms tucked into the rear of the structure functions as a bunk bed. The other is a long, narrow desk that runs along the front windows for tranquil and inspiring views of the woods beyond the glass. A wood stove perches atop built-in storage in one corner.

According to the architects, the bunk beds fold up on traction struts. When both the beds and the desks are folded, the room opens up, becoming a prime spot for Cutler’s poker nights. But one thing the architect didn’t anticipate during the building process was the fact that his whole family would end up using the cabin as a living room, trekking down the 30-foot walkway rain or shine to get there. The fact that they have to pass through the outdoors for access enhances the secluded feel of the building, as well as the family’s connection to the island setting.

Cutler left the interior framing lumber and exterior shiplap framing exposed for a rustic look, and placed “shingles” cut from Corten steel over rigid insulation to sheath it. The amber tones of the steel blend in with the warm, textural trunks of the cedar and madrone trees surrounding the structure.

The tiny cabin even acts as an off-grid getaway during power outages, which aren’t uncommon in this windswept setting outside Seattle. Cutler installed four kilowatts worth of batteries and an inverter behind the rolling file cabinets, which power the lights, television, and a small refrigerator.

For Cutler’s daughter, the ability to have sleepovers with friends in a private space separate from her parents is a preteen dream come true. Who among us wouldn’t want a multipurpose backyard studio like this for reading, napping, creating, and socializing?

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