2011 ASLA Professional Awards {20} Residential Design Honor Award: Half-Mile, Hand-Built Line: Berkshire Boardwalk By Reed Hilderbrand, Watertown, MA

“Beautifully composed. This extends the definition of the garden path. It took extensive collaboration to understand the eco-habitat to accomplish this project. The walk is revised to reduce shading above the water level to allow light for the habitat. It’s fabulous that someone wants to go into this area and embrace it. Bravo to the client to invest in something so tied to nature. ” —2011 Professional Awards Jury

精美的构筑，延伸了花园小径的定义。通过广泛的合作得以了解生态栖息地以完成项目。之所以修成人行浮桥是为了最少限度的遮挡栖息地的阳光。如此美妙，人们进入这里并融入这里。向支持这项自然事业的业主所致敬。2011年专业奖评审委员会

Half-Mile, Hand-Built Line: Berkshire Boardwalk By Reed Hilderbrand, Watertown, MA 更多请至：Reed Hilderbrand, Watertown, MA on gooood 
photo © Alex MacLean / Landslides Aerial Photography & Reed Hilderbrand

▼（left）Aerial photograph of the boardwalk in fall（right）Site Plan.（左）航拍（右）总平

The owners of this new 2,700 foot-long boardwalk describe the work as “a remarkable discovery” of a place that was previously unreachable and unknowable. Threading a narrow path through the edge of a 50-acre wetland adjacent to their home, a team of carpenters assembled the boardwalk completely by hand, in the water, without machines. The result has been deemed a successful habitat enhancement and an exemplary permitting precedent for the town. For the owners it is a lasting and unforgettable experience in all seasons.

这条2,700英尺长的木板人行道被业主描述为惊奇之旅，它让业主到达了以前不可达和不可知的地方。业主在他家旁边的50英亩面积的湿地边缘设置了这样的木板路，完全由工人人工搭建。这已经成为了一个成功的栖息地介入案例。在这里的每个季节，都让人感到难以忘怀。

湿地

业主聘请景观设计师协助他们更好的管理这片再生森林财产。业主知道自己能够享受到这片湿地的边缘，但他们终究无法深入中部。于是，景观设计师在林地管理、边缘修复和草地扩建的基础之上，与生物学家，承包商，物业经理等等各专业的人员进行了长达9个月的协助，实现了这条低技的，人工的，轻细介入自然生境的人行浮桥。

持久之美

通过对航拍照片的研究，道路避开了所有的不利因素（海狸的储水区，密林，灌林，野生动物走廊）。修建道路的同时选择性的清除了20%非本地物种，为本地物种留下更多的生存空间。专业人员在旱季的时候进入场地进行操作。目前，植物群落长势良好。灰赤杨，北美山茱萸密度增加，为野生动物提供了更多的食物，促使他们数量也增加。

路径体验非常丰富，经过三个高点，还穿越一系列对比型的空间：高大的树林，密集的草原，开放的水面。有两个公共平台位于开放水面上，这里能看到周围的森林和远处的伯克希尔山。

小路尽可能的减少了对阳光的遮挡。建造时工人用推车拉材料和运送垃圾。路面是本地易加工的铁杉板材。小径的基础在生态介入这点来讲十分友好。仅一个季度，周边的植被便恢复生长。

收获

两个大的收获。一，这是一个专业人员，业主，承包商，官员共同完成的湿地保护范例。二，这个项目让人体会大自然也让人深思其中，让人觉得亲切的同时又通过戏剧性的对比产生宏大。

▼秋季航拍，Aerial photograph of the boardwalk in fall

▼秋季航拍，Aerial photograph of the boardwalk in fall

▼穿过草甸的路径，Mown paths lead from the upland meadows and the farmhouse to the wetland boardwalk completing a circuit through the site.

▼夏季密草，Boardwalk over dense grasses in summer.

▼通过对航拍照片的研究，道路避开了所有的不利因素（海狸的储水区，密林，灌林，野生动物走廊）。The vertical and horizontal alignments of the path were tuned on site to navigate trees and snags, thickets, beaver impoundments, perennial stream courses, and wildlife  corridors.

▼通过对航拍照片的研究，道路避开了所有的不利因素（海狸的储水区，密林，灌林，野生动物走廊）。The vertical and horizontal alignments of the path were tuned on site to navigate trees and snags, thickets, beaver impoundments, perennial stream courses, and wildlife corridors.

▼完全手工打造过程，A team of carpenters assembled the low-impact boardwalk completely by hand, without machines or heavy equipment.

▼曲径通幽，Passage through a dense thicket approaching the open wetland.

▼尾端平台，A platform at the end of one of the spurs.

▼人们脚下的道路仿佛消失了，是凭空站立在那里，（left）People appear to hover over the wetland where the boardwalk disappears within the grasses.（right）A platform at the end of one of the spurs, and people appear to hover over the wetland where the boardwalk disappears within the grasses.

▼根据区域植物的长势调整高低。The boardwalk rises and falls depending on the growing conditions of underlying vegetation.

▼在开放水域的支线，The spur extends the experience out over open water.

▼ 最低干扰的构造。手动固定的螺栓桩脚。Disturbance was limited to within feet or even inches of the walk by using hand driven screw piles.

▼动感摄影头扑捉到的享受这条道路的野生动物。A motion sensitive camera catches the wide array of wildlife that occupy this wetland habitat.

▼南部开阔之景的末端平台The southern platform offers views to the expansive wetland network to the south.

In the Wetland

The landscape architect was hired to assist the owners in their efforts toward greater stewardship of their property—primarily in the regrowth forest that covers 70% of the land. Though the owners were acutely aware of the larger benefits of land drainage, storage, and habitat associated with the wet potions of their landholding, they could not imagine the experience of being in the middle of the marsh—it was completely inaccessible. As part of ongoing efforts in woodlot management, edge restoration, and meadow extension, the landscape architect proposed to extend a circuit trail along the upland edge and then out over the water. The design team engaged a nine-month long review process with conservation biologists, permit specialists, contractors, the property manager, and conservation commissioners to ensure adequate protection of the resource and mitigation of limited construction disturbance. The case for Conservation Commission approval hinged on careful evaluation of hydrologic and biotic characteristics of the site; the use of low-impact technologies in construction; and specific design characteristics devised to enhance wetland habitat.

Sustainable, Lyrical Beauty

Path alignments were studied in plan from air Images and then thoroughly tuned on site to navigate among trees and snags, woody thickets, beaver impoundments, significant perennial stream courses, and wildlife corridors. The project included removal of invasive species; more than 20% of cover in the immediate project area was selectively removed to favor increases in native species. Conservation commissioners and professional permitting reviewers examined the site during both dry-weather fall conditions and more active spring flows, surveying the entire stakeout in hip waders and formulating the basis for their Order of Conditions on site. Since completion, beneficial plant communities including speckled alder and silky dogwood have responded favorably, improving shade cover and food sources. A corresponding increase in wildlife has been observed.

Experience is dynamic and varied. The walk departs from the upland path at three connecting points and becomes a series of contrasts among intimate, closed-in woody thickets, emergent marsh grasslands, and larger areas of open running water. By gaining unencumbered views on two platforms in the open waters, one comprehends the larger geographic context of surrounding forest and the peaks of the Berkshire hills.

Gentle vertical rises in the walk surface up to 24 inches in height were devised to reduce shading over specific aquatic habitat areas. The builders hauled materials in by hand and on floats. They drove helical support piles into the subsoil with crowbars, containing debris with silt curtains and shovels. The scheme employed locally-milled hemlock planking (5,000 pieces) for the decking surface, chosen for its rustic, raised grain and ease of cutting in the field—there are many hundreds of radial cuts to accommodate the layout as it curves and bends around trees, snags, and thickets. Disturbance was limited to within feet or even inches of the walk. Emergent vegetation quickly recovered during the first season after completion.

Object Lessons

The project outcome demonstrates two notable achievements. First, in view of legislated wetlands protection, it remains an example of a participatory process that resulted in active stewardship of a wetland resource among professionals, conservation officials, owners, and contractors. Second, the project created a structure for nature observation and contemplation that is equally powerful in its intimacy as in its expansiveness and drama.

More:Reed Hilderbrand, Watertown,更多请至：Reed Hilderbrand, Watertown, MA on gooood 

VIA:ASLA