farandnear pavilion

Shirley, Massachusetts

Built for the Trustees of Reservations, this new pavilion is a welcoming center for the 89 acre Farandnear reservation in Shirley, MA. Also serving as a gathering area for venue events, the Farandnear Pavilion was constructed using an intricate system of structural steel nodes and exposed douglas fir timbers, features an eco-friendly rain water collection system and a custom painted structural slab that depicts a map of the reservation.

  • Type: New Construction

    Size: 2,000 SF

    Status: Completed, 2016

    Photography: Aaron Usher

impact

The Trustees of Reservations acquired Farandnear from the Goodspped-Banks family in 2009. The original 3-acre site purchased by Charles Goodspeed in 1902 had grown to encompass more than 89 acres. The reservation is home to multiple microenvironments, including a ravine in the Spruce Swamp Brook, locally known as β€œParadise” for its isolation and scenic beauty; and a β€œpinetum”: an arboretum of pines and coniferous trees, which contains over eighty species of conifers. When the property transferred to the Trustees upon the death of Goodspeed’s grandson, Arthur Banks, the Trustees engaged designLAB to develop a master plan for the property, at the center of which was a new visitors pavilion on the site of the family’s former residence.