Digitally-Fabricated Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion Collects Rainwater For Irrigation

<a href="http://www.bostonharborislands.org/" target="_blank">Boston's Harbor Islands</a> are just a quick 20 minute ferry ride from downtown, so to entice visitors out to enjoy nature, <a href="http://www.utiledesign.com/" target="_blank">Utile</a> designed and built an outdoor pavilion and kiosk. The pavilion is made up of two concrete and steel structures that funnel rainwater down to a spout, which pours into a catch basin. The Boston firm digitally fabricated and tested the model to ensure the water flowed as it should and were able to minimize material usage before construction ever began.

The Boston Harbor Island Pavilion is located on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the linear park created from burying I-93.

The Pavilion was built to entice residents and visitors to visit the Harbor Islands, a national recreation area made up of 34 islands in the Boston Harbor.

Run by the National Parks Service, Boston Harbor Islands is just a quick 20 minute ferry ride from the downtown and offers up 12 of the islands for exploration.

The Pavilion provides more information on the islands, their history and natural resources as well as a kiosk to buy ferry tickets.

The National Park Service and the Boston Harbor Island Alliance tasked Utile to design the pavilion, which sits along the Greenway and a number of other parks and activities near the waterfront.

The goal was to raise awareness about the islands and respect the site and context of the city.

Rainwater collection was one of the main goals of the project and to ensure that it operated perfectly, Utile created a digital model to test their design.

The pavilion features two steel structures topped with a concrete canopies formed to channel rainwater down into a catchment basin that is used to irrigate the surrounding lawn.

The digital model allowed the firm to fine tune the form and minimize materials to achieve their goal.

Solar panels on the roof also harvest sunlight to create electricity for the pavilion.

Pavilion location along Rose Kennedy Greenway.