From our client’s lake-side retreat the morning sun of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes rises across the waters of Twelve-Mile Bayou directly beyond the distant skyline of downtown Shreveport, Louisiana.

Architecture, Construction & Design Awards 2020
Second Award | Private Landscape

©Jonathan Dean

In celebration of the two times of the year when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the center of the sun’s disk simultaneous to the intersection of the solar ecliptic and the celestial equator, our client requested a structure from which to observe and reflect on the earth’s path through the universe and, pragmatically, provide a platform for socializing, fishing, boating, swimming, watching and launching fireworks, etcetera.

©Jonathan Dean

On-site, an axial alignment with the equinoxes allows the pier to project seventy feet into the lake, threading between and projecting beyond the beautiful Bald-cypress trees hugging the shoreline.

Steel was chosen as the primary structural material reflecting our client’s interest in expressed tectonic material intersections and a deep love and appreciation for the beauty of cantilevers. The steel-structured awning provides shade; similarly structured benches provide seating and all aspects of the design echo the fundamental nature of the pier’s primary cantilever.

©Jonathan Dean

Our client regards the pier not only as a utilitarian object but also an object of beauty meaningfully placed in spacetime.