RISD
2023
This project entailed a collaborative endeavor with the Tomaquag Museum to conceptualize and design a 10,000 square foot archival facility. The design was informed by the museum’s identity, particularly the significance of the beaver, represented by the name "Tomaquag." As such, the building was conceived as an architectural manifestation of a dam, a structure that both contains and distributes.
The facility was designed to accommodate a tripartite function: archival storage, public library, and flexible exhibition space. A core design principle was the creation of a building with varying degrees of accessibility, from fully public to strictly controlled archival areas. This approach aimed to balance the preservation of the museum’s extensive collection with its dissemination for research and public engagement. The building’s facade, composed of a pine needle composite material, served as a metaphorical and physical extension of the dam concept, providing environmental protection while visually referencing the surrounding ecosystem.