Brockway's Cottage
The Brockway house and cottage are situated within a few plots of land from each other in Pentwater, Michigan along Lake Michigan. The house is intended as a residence for a single person and guests, while the cottage is intended to accommodate large groups of family and guests. The degree to which one is a cottage and the other is a house is represented by two sets of social values -- the cottage -- extroverted openness, display, lightness and the house – privacy, individuality, and seclusion.
The Brockway Cottage is organized on three levels maximizing its small footprint. The specificity of space and materiality becomes more refined as you move vertically through the space. The bottom level is open to the environment and is clad with an inexpensive and replaceable polycarbonate skin. The middle level is programmed as an open communal space and deploys storefront mullioned glass openings. The upper level combines the most private, intimate sleeping and open spaces with mullion-less glass providing clear views of the lake.
Conceptually set within the rectangular envelope of the cottage are a series of stacked knotty pine clad boxes containing utilitarian program and structure. Circulation spirals around the boxes while the materiality of the knotty pine becomes more refined the higher you traverse. The cladding begins with a rough almost abrasive texture and ends with a clearly finished and softly textured paneling.