Vancouver. A dock building made of polycarbonate and wood

Michael Green Architects designed a translucent dock building for the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on the Vancouver beach of Jericho, Canada. The compact structure offers a rich program, from workshops to instruction space for children, from offices to washroom and showers.

The project was built on a modest budget, half of which went for the foundation and piles. The sharp volume is the result of the intersection of two mirroring volumes with sloped roofs. The dock building’s structure has been conceived as a mix of glulam posts and beams. The interiors are characterised by constructive-grade plywood that can be easily replaced. The cladding consists of white seam panels, interrupted by two surfaces in translucent polycarbonate. These surfaces – one of them facing the sea, while the other faces the land – ensure the presence of light to the workshops while, at night, they allow the building to glow on the coast.