Saco Lake Wellness Center
The wellness center is to be located adjacent to Saco Lake and compliment the existing, four-season, Appalachian Mountain Club Highland Center Lodge on route 302 in Crawford Notch New Hampshire. The center will serve as a year round destination and will supplement the various activities found throughout the region. The primary materials associated with the project are predefined and limited to wood and site cast concrete.In the design solution, concrete was used to represent solid, relatively cold spaces, whereas wood was used to represent porous, warm and generally more welcoming and open spaces. In developing the gradient from dense bathing activity to scattered paths in nature, the spaces were also organized along an axis that represents the slope of the original site slope.
Human experience within the space was used to generate diagrams that aided the spatial organization. The spatial organization of the center focuses on the duration of each activity, contrast between zones and the human perspective from each zone. Relationship between concrete and wood was considered crucial to the expression of density. Using a pattern developed according to the program organization, the roof transitions from concrete panels to wood lanels and eventually to wooden lattices. The northwest facade faces the main road and the lodging area; the dominance of wood speaks of warmth and openness. The southeast side faces woods, the lakeside, and provides entrance from the Saco Lake trail; the dominance of concrete provides not only retention of earth, but boundary of the wellness center and hints of spaces behind.
