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actum lake boardwalk

sophomore year, 2018

boulder, colorado

individual design

The University of Colorado at Boulder South Campus project has been in the university’s plan for quite a while, put off due to the community members in opposition to the project since the current area is a field featuring a berm around the edges many residents use for recreation and immersion in nature. After designing a master plan that keeps that in mind while also including academic buildings and residential homes/townhomes, I zoomed in for a more human scale along Actum Lake, a lake with the intent of being used for recreation and immersion within nature away from the academic and residential villages of CU South Camps.      

 Overall, my design aims to create a hierarchy of circulation, vegetation, and programs that allow visitors to sit, observe, socialize, circulate, and recreate along the path down into the water. With shaded, large, and land-based to sunny, small, and water-based areas, the design will give the sense of natural environment while also enhancing the current biodiversity along the lake.

actum lakes master plan.png

cu boulder south campus master plan

actum lakes site plan.png

actum lake boardwalk site plan

campus parti.PNG

sketched parti

campus program.png

primary

secondary

tertiary

recreation

open space

site

program 

campus circulation.png

lake

path node

site

paved path

stone path

wood path

circulation and materiality

campus topography.png

steep

gradual

site

topography

campus S section.PNG

southern section

campus N section.PNG

Within the Actum Lake design, I largely focused on hierarchy which is depicted and diagrammed to the left. The program itself is split into primary, secondary, and tertiary elements and zones. The primary zone is far away from the water in full shade and gradual topography while the secondary zone consists of semi-shaded paths through partially dense vegetation with a short distance to the lake itself. The tertiary program zone features no vegetation (fully immersed in sunshine) while being at the water with steep topography. In terms of materiality and circulation hierarchy, the primary zone has a wide, concrete path connecting in parts to the permeable stone path of the secondary zone. The tertiary zone contains an elevated wooden boardwalk along the shoreline and over Actum Lake. These hierarchies create different levels of immersion within nature and the different nodes added at major junctions along each path.

northern section

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