2016 A+Awards Firm of the Year Studio Gang Architects has added another striking boathouse to the Chicago riverfront in an effort to renew the connection between the city’s residents and the underutilized waterway. Located at Park 571 in the South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport, the Eleanor Boathouse is the latest nautical iteration from the Chicago-based architecture firm.
The Eleanor Boathouse, a 19,000-square-foot, dual-building construction, evokes the rhythmic movements of rowers via alternating roof trusses. The two buildings — a field house and boat storage facility — are clad in a striking, dark zinc façade with a series of south-facing clerestory windows that open up the facilities to soft, natural light. A custom green gradient window screen complements the gray exterior and creates an aesthetic connection to the river while welcoming the community to the boathouse.
The 13,171-square-foot boat storage facility can accommodate 75 boats of various sizes and includes a heater repair bay and lockers. The field house, maxing out at 5,832 square feet, features a multipurpose room, main office, open seating area, restrooms, showers and a recreation room holding 57 erg machines that simulate rowing for training purposes. The site also includes floating launch docks, stairs for spectators during events and fishing rod holders. Several clubs, organizations and high school and university teams call the Eleanor Boathouse home.
The project is part of a larger movement toward the ecological and recreational revival of the Chicago River. The city is moving quickly to clean up the heavily polluted river and improve the resources along the shore. Studio Gang’s Eleanor Boathouse, a sister project to their WMS Boathouse for Clark Par in Chicago’s North Side, is the last of four planned boathouses.
“For too long, Chicago residents were cut off from an asset in our own backyard,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the project’s opening. “So today, we are transforming our rivers from relics of our industrial past to anchors for our neighborhoods’ futures.”
The new boathouse serves the surrounding community through year-round rowing practice and after-school activities with classroom space for day camps. Among the groups to use the facility is the Chicago Training Center, a free mentoring program that teaches public school students competitive rowing. The Eleanor Boathouse gives the organization storage space for the first time in its history.
Along with WMS Boathouse and the other two kayaking and canoeing facilities in Albany Park and Chinatown, Chicago is on its way to becoming a hot spot for river sports. This revitalization strategy, dubbed “Building on Burnham” — a reference to the famous Chicago architect and planner Daniel Burnham — is just one example of how the city is investing in its natural resources like the Chicago River.
According to the architect’s website, the design for the Eleanor Boathouse was built to inspire people to learn and experience rowing and the teamwork it instills. “By making the riverfront a destination for recreation anchored by dynamic sustainable architecture,” said Jeanne Gang, “we hope to catalyze long-term stewardship and support for the river’s remediation as well as improve the health of the communities that surround it.”
Images via Studio Gang Architects