The South Pond Nature Boardwalk is the result of a unique confluence between the city, a failed, synthetic waterway, and a program to leverage education in natural science toward understanding of the effects of human society on nature. Through layered interventions, the pond was invigorated to become a thriving urban ecosystem.
The architectural focus of the project, the nature pavilion, explores the use of wood in all of its physical capacities: bending, compression, and tension, to create an efficient structure for use as an outdoor classroom made from a natural, site-appropriate material.
Client: Lincoln Park Zoo
Completed: 2014
Role: Studio Gang Architects, Design Architect; Kara Boyd – Project Leader, Concept and Schematic Design; Jeana Ripple – Design Development, Construction Documents
Awards: Best Small Structure Award (Magnusson Klemencic), Structural Engineers Association of Illinois, 2011; Honor Award, Distinguished Building, Design Excellence Awards, AIA Chicago, 2011; American Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum, 2011; WoodWorks Wood Design Awards, 2010; Patron of the Year (Lincoln Park Zoo), Chicago Architecture Foundation, 2010
Images: © Tom Harris, Courtesy of Studio Gang
