VIA’s history and expertise in flood plain resiliency comes from our 30-year focus and efforts on shifting our design practice to advancing how we think about our relationship with the land, our civic and environmental duty, and going beyond what is stipulated by authorities. Our response is moving out front and in pursuit of a paradigm shift. Marine architecture is an ancient science in which the structures’ performance leverages nature’s forces. This is reflective in preferred form, function, stability, and buoyancy. When we imagine our buildings as a vessel and our sites as the sea, how does our thinking change?
We call it the “HULL story”—our choice of foundation sets the stage for the project parti—thinking about the below-sea-level section, the wetland surface, the part that interacts with the H2O, and the response to nature. Hull innovation varies by shape and the preferred performance of displacement, planer, flat, pontoon, hovercraft, or other. The vocabulary shift to suitability for preferred use, minimum friction with surface, adaptability to changing conditions, and alignment with long range use goals all align with pursuit of the “leave no trace” ethic.
These robust design convictions set the stage for the balance of a project’s design considerations. Inside and outside relationships really matter so to reveal and inform others of an awareness of any vessel’s program, purpose, and performance. We desire our buildings to be porous and engaged with the site – an expression of an ecological moment in these settings. Each project’s fully integrated design approach puts to task our team of experts to leverage the positive attributes of each key program function.
How do you design and construct a marina and waterfront resort worthy of a National Monument?
This is the Fort Monroe Authority’s vision; focused on rejuvenating Fort Monroe’s precious historic resources while inserting new program amenities. The Authority has chosen VIA design, partnered with Pack Brothers Hospitality of the family owned and operated Smithfield Station to execute this vision. We will re-imagine and elevate this significant, historic waterfront destination, with different uses, where some are new construction and some are rehabilitation, some are over the water, and some are on land, and some are in various floodplain designations. The goal is to provide a clear game plan for Fort Monroe’s future, but also create guidelines for future VIA projects in similar environmental settings.
VIA launched an intern program this summer to team on a project called the “HULL story”. Their focus is to collaborate in a research effort to reveal a “best practice” framework for designing new waterfront and waterborne structures, and for modifying a family of existing historic structures contributing to this National Monument. This team will study the whole story of applicable energy + building codes, the state’s Division of Engineering + Building permitting rigor, the Joint Permit Application agencies’ requirements, FEMA guidelines, stormwater regulations, recent Governor of Virginia Executive Orders, Secretary Department of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Structures, and more.