nature views

Competition entry concept design of a new bathroom for the historic Gropius House, located in Lincoln, MA and designed by Walter Gropius, founder of The Bauhaus. Drawing inspiration from the Gropius House’s iconic stone walls, a blend of New England tradition and modernist vision, the new intervention grounds itself in this historic landscape.

This addition distills the Bauhaus ideals: marrying cutting-edge technology with the natural world, deepening connection, and employing architecture as a tool for betterment. It is wholly new, resisting competition with the original fabric. Technological progress meets the ageless wisdom of stone walls, centuries older than the movement itself, all woven together in seamless, harmonious integration.

authaus

The new restrooms are carved from the intersection of two new stone walls on site. The first is parallel with the garage, it creates a backdrop for the modest structure and frames views to the landscape beyond. The second is parallel to the iconic entrance canopy of the house and disappears into the landscape, highlighting the grade change from the garage and helping guide visitors up to the house.

canopy

A large canopy further ties the new stone walls into the garage as it overhangs the pathway and transitions into the roof of the new restrooms. This canopy contains an integrated photovoltaic array embedded within layers of glass, the kind of technology that Gropius would have embraced: functional and beautiful. It generates the power for the visitors center and restrooms while filtering dappled light through to the space below.

net-zero operation

The restrooms themselves are tucked behind the walls, creating a purely natural experience, with dappled sunlight illuminating the space from above, and natural stone defining the edges. Within the restrooms, the canopy’s structure starts to direct the light just as the trellis structure at the house does. These restrooms use composting toilets, a technology which, along with the large PV canopy, enables the entire visitors center and restroom to achieve net-zero operation, even if the visitors center expands in the future into the space behind the new stone walls.