The Gowanus Dredgers promote environmental awareness and activism through canoeing and ecological education programs on the Gowanus Canal. They currently store their canoes in a shipping container and launch them from a platform at the edge of the canal. In order to raise their profile, establish a more permanent presence on the canal and have a location for year-round classes, the Dredgers are campaigning to build a new boathouse.

AFHny’s boathouse team has completed site analysis work, research on boathouse typologies, and developed several design approaches to the project. AFHny’s site analysis documents helped the Dredgers choose a best site from a selection of parcels of city land. The site analysis is also a tool for the Dredgers to make a compelling argument for their preferred design to a developer who may financially support the project.

The building typology documents led to a detailed understanding of the organization’s needs in the present and helped project how the building could grow in phases to meet future needs. The boathouse has begun to take shape around the priorities that have emerged through collaborative design meetings.

AFHny is continuing to develop three architectural proposals that will be refined through workshops with the Dredgers. We hope to be involved in the negotiations that will lead to the boathouse being built.