Concept Design Study Completed 2024
32,375 square feet

Oudens Ello Architecture (OEA) was hired by the Community Boating Center, in conjunction with the City of New Bedford, through a public procurement process to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the CBC. The purpose of this study is to understand the degree to which the existing facilities and site may be improved upon—through renovation, rehabilitation or new construction—to meet the goals and objectives of the Community Boating Center, and to understand the costs associated with the proposed improvements. During the five-month study, the Design Team assessed the performance of the existing buildings and site and evaluated proposed expansions to the site in relation to programmatic needs, building and zoning codes, and climatic resilience.

The preferred design for a reimagined Community Boating Center proposes an enlarged campus, utilizing both the current and proposed additional adjacent parcels in New Bedford and Dartmouth. The enlargement of the overall area that CBC occupies allows for a consolidation of program into cohesive, purpose-built facilities. These improvements include: a new fenced storage and parking lot, road repairs and new pathways, straightened boardwalk and pier, beach rehabilitation with native plantings, unconditioned boat storage building, two-level waterfront building, and two-level landward building. The architecture takes its cues from the FEMA-required flood-water wall openings to create a language of slatted wood on the building facade. Wood is a carbon neutral, readily available material that is both capable of withstanding repeated water events and easily replaceable. On the lower level the fixed slats remain open to air and light in conjunction with sliding wall panels that allow the users to control the size and level of enclosure for each program area. On the upper level the slats are either on a solid substrate or act as a screen on the glazing. The wood cladding all the new structures on the campus will weather over time, reminiscent of the traditional maritime buildings of coastal New England.