Polaris Pavilion

Polaris Pavilion is a universally-accessible picnic pavilion set in an existing clearing in the woods. The concept parti sought to resolve two sets of axes, a north-south axis oriented to the natural world and a rotated axis oriented to already existing human-built features of the park. The pavilion rests at the conjunction of these two ordering grids.

Visitors approach from the parking lot or from Wells Ridge Trail and join under two shelters that provide varying scales of intimacy. The north shelter is narrower, with one picnic table, and welcomes visitors to a space of quiet repose. The south shelter opens to a forest clearing and contains two picnic tables, emphasizing intimacy with its screens while connecting to the woods beyond.

The screens that support the pavilion create a sense of refuge with their regularly spaced vertical elements, but also allow views of the surrounding landscape. The screens modulate shadows created by daylight filtered through tree canopies. The verticality of the screen members draws the eye to the trees surrounding the clearing, mirroring the ways that they create a serene and intimate space simply through implied enclosure.