Morrow Mountain State Park Boathouse

Architect: Smith Sinnett (visit website)

Location: Albemarle, NC

100 Word Description: The Boathouse sits on the edge of a bank at the confluence of the Yadkin, Pee Dee, and Uwharrie Rivers within Morrow Mountain State Park. Due to the archeological significance of the park, the boathouse was designed to match the footprint of a previous boathouse structure.  It consists of a rental office and a boat launching facility.  Where possible, materials for this project were locally sourced including the native rhyolite stone, which was originally quarried within the park limits and salvaged from older structures.  Transitional areas are separated by wood cypress screen walls cantilevered off the cast-in-place foundation walls and simultaneously controlling vistas to the water.  The project is focused on the experiential transition from being on the land to being on the water.

Architect’s Statement: Located at the top of the bank are public service areas consisting of a boat rental office and bathing facilities.  The line of demarcation between land and water is reinforced by the line of the cast-in-place concrete retaining walls.  A sliding wood door acts as a threshold to the vertical circulation spine which leads patrons to the lower deck.  Access to the boat slips and dock area is either by a ramp overhanging the water or a short series of steps leading directly to the dock area.

Type of Construction: The office area was constructed for durability out of standard CMU with a skin of fiber cement panels and a stone base.  The building is designed for summer use to operate primarily in a passive cooling mode, but is supplemented with a small high efficiency mechanical system in the office area.  The lower deck sits on a series of micro-piles drilled into the bedrock of the lake and a series of cast in place concrete walls that form the building’s retaining walls at the land’s edge.  The dock area is defined by glulam columns and beams supporting purlins and standing seam metal roofing.  Connections are made between wood sections with bent galvanized plates, which in some areas were cast directly into the concrete.  The deck is surface is composite decking, providing good moisture resistance and long term performance.  On the land side, the foundation walls are clad in local rhyolite stone harvested from the park’s stockpile of salvaged stone.  The walls cantilever off the cast-in-place retaining walls providing structural support for the stairs and ramp.  The wood cypress screen walls slide along the water’s edge, demarcating the meeting of land’s edge to the water.The NC State Construction Office awarded this project a 2013 Certificate of Merit.

Photography: Courtney Richeson Photography