City of Baltimore Parks and Recreation
Baltimore, MD

Located on a sloping hillside affronting the Patapsco River, the new Baltimore Rowing Club and Water Resource Center commands a spectacular view of downtown Baltimore. The facility provides classroom space, meeting rooms, catering facilities, function rooms, weight and locker rooms, outdoor viewing areas and boat storage. The form and imagery of this building are derived from a study of 19th- and early 20th-century boathouses on the East coast.

The basement of the building, built of rusticated masonry, grows out of the hillside and contains the large shell storage area. On top of this base is a more traditionally inspired wood frame structure housing the main public spaces of the clubhouse and its various support and athletic facilities.

The clubhouse level is a sequence of rooms, linked at their centers, that progress from an entrance hall, a top-lighted octagonal trophy room and a large clubroom, finally terminating in an outdoor deck that projects out toward the water and the downtown skyline beyond.

The exterior base is made of black and white rough masonry, on top of which sits a cedar shingle gabled building with a standing seam red metal roof. The interior finishes are deep dark materials and colors consistent with the tradition of the boathouse as a building type.

Awards:
1987, Baltimore Chapter AIA Design Excellence Award
1989, Architecture Magazine Feature Story
1990, Baltimore Magazine's "Best Place to Have a Party"

Completion: 1987
Size: 10,000 gsf
Cost: $900,000