Dune Co-habitat

Queens, NY
  • Waterfront
  • Resilience / Climate Adaptation
  • Ecological Design
  • Planning
  • Honorable Mention, FAR ROC International Design Competition, 2013

Dune Co-Habitat was an award-winning entry by SCAPE and Lot-ek Architects in the FarRoc Design competition, created to explore innovative strategies for planning, design, and construction of a resilient mixed use development within an 80 acre site on the Rockaway peninsula. Dune Co-habitat uses the logic of back dune ecosystems to combine coastal protection strategies with an open space network and new development. New housing units are integrated into undulating and inhabitable secondary dunes, shaped to contain and protect key site infrastructure, parking and utilities. Bungalows cluster to form shared courtyards, creating smaller scale social spaces and a local neighborhood character. A dune-generating boardwalk captures the power of wind to build a protective fore dune along the beach berm, leading to a pier that reaches out to the ocean to provide access to a historic recreational sandbar at Hog Island. The site is designed to adapt to water inundation from both sides, as shallow bay canals and spines of recreational and community spaces protect from stillwater inundation from Jamaica Bay, amplifying the relationship between people and marine life.

Collaborators

LOT-EK
Sherwood Design Engineers
James Lima