Stonington

In the heart of Stonington, Connecticut, where the land meets the sea, sits the Manning Studios design for a town hall. Designed in collaboration with fellow architecture students, interior designers, and landscape architects, this project is not merely a building of brick and mortar, but a vessel that carries the town's decorated history.

The building is laid out on a set of custom grid lines inspired by the converging docks along the coast and irregular grid of the town itself. This unique form joins together the diverse forms of the town's fabric while experientially creating a funnel out into the water.

In addition to creating a funnel out to sea, the presence of the harbor beyond is maximized throughout the design. By opening up to the sea and skewing each room out towards the harbor, the water plays a role in the atmosphere of each room. Light was also a driving feature, as skylights, clerestories, and glazing throughout the building open up each area to the sunlight and nature surrounding. Columns, beams, louvers, and strategically placed plantings create a dynamic play of shadows in every space that constantly evolves throughout the day.

Entry Sequence Building Section

A sequence of compression upon entry followed by release into large, open, and naturally lit spaces was designed to create a sense of awe in the building's experience. The central entrance, as seen in section, opens to the main lobby (left) or into the business center (right).

Community Hall Building Section

This section cut through the community hall shows the dynamic play of light that occurs within the town hall design. Brilliant south light is permitted into the double height space, filtering through the plantings beyond, while north facing clerestories illuminate the space above.

Funnel

Columns and struts line the hallway to the deliberation chamber. As seen in this physical model photograph, the columns move further apart as they near the chamber, opening up the view into the room and out into the harbor beyond.

Deliberation Chamber

Within the chamber, light reflected off ripples in the water is permitted through louvers to dance on the ceiling above. The ceiling itself is adorned with baffles to diffues light and sound throughout the room and create a visual appeal to the sails of a ship at sea.

The site plan above shows the design's mimic of the town docks, unifying them into one form resembling fingers that reach out to sea. The renders above show the skylight in the business center and the dynamic shadows within the community hall.

Main Lobby

Public Service Counter

Topographic Ceiling Sculpture

Deliberation Chamber Louvers

Courtyard Pond

Within the courtyard is a small reflecting pond with interactive stepping stones. The pond allows the reflections of water to pass through clerestories and adorn ceilings throughout the building.

View of Courtyard

The view through the Business Center's balcony window shows the dramatic protrusion of the deliberation chamber into the water and the cut of the reflecting pond and its infinity ledge into the courtyard.

Deliberation Chamber Model

Funneled Corridor Model

Main Entry Model

Lobby Section Model

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