BONNET CARRE SPILLWAY VISTOR’S CENTER
The Bonnet Carre Spillway is a marsh connecting the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain marked by a break in the levy and a 2,500m floodgate. When the Mississippi rises 16.5 feet (within a foot of the levy height), the floodgates open, diverting the excess water to the lake, stopping it from flooding the city
In 2nd year Landscape Studio we were tasked with designing a visitor’s center for the spillway and challenged to interact with the changing conditions and water levels in the site
I began by sketching all the ways that I could imagine a building interacting with water; it could sit above, become submerged, float, descend, etc.
Once I decided I wanted to experience all the extremes of the change in water level, I could narrow in on a site
The project is made up of three buildings and a series of curved concrete walls. Each building interact with the water levels in a different way and the walls control its movement as it rises.
The three buildings are (from left to right) the Floater (floats on pontoons and houses welcome center and floating dock), the Sinker (becomes partially submerged as water rises and houses office space), and the Dry (sits above the highest historical flood level and houses gallery space) all connected by a path elevated above flood height.
