No Laughing Matter in Edenton, N.C.

The architects call it a “folly” – Victorian for a small structure beckoning visitors to rest and revel in nature. But near the 1898 Edenton, N.C. Cotton Mill, recently converted to condominiums, this whimsy of a pavilion is really a trickster defying definitions – not because it lacks meaning, but because it delivers so much.

A small transitional space that’s neither indoors nor out, it connects the condos to a boardwalk meandering along a stream through 500 forested feet to Queen Anne Creek. A punctuation mark and a meditation point, it’s a link and point of departure between home and water.

It sprang, fully formed, from the minds of a team from Raleigh-based Clearscapes. It wasn’t imagined as shelter in any traditional sense; it has no roof, and it won’t ward off rain, bugs or critters.

“We were trying to meander between a shed roof and a canopy,” said designer Jedidiah Gant. “Instead of a dark, closed-in roof, we wanted to give a better view out, and a feeling of shelter. You’re still very much in an interior space, but the shelter lies in the patterns of shadows.”

From its three interior benches, a visitor is acutely aware of light, shadow and position of the sun. It is a deliberate, thoughtful effect. “When the sun moves, the building changes,” said Gant. “When you walk in and look up, you see the sky through a slit in the trees. It’s engaging. You’re in action, but you’re resting inside of nature.”

The open space at the center of the two rooms emphasizes the visual rhythm of the pavilion. “What’s really important is what you’re looking at and who you’re looking at,” said Gant. The placement of the benches focuses a visitor’s eyes out toward the creek and back toward the mill.

A team of five Clearscapes designers pre-fabbed the pavilion in a week, then erected it with galvanized screws and bolts on site over a two-day weekend.

The materials are simplicity itself: Treated southern white pine, stained black, supplies vertical support. Horizontal cedar slats, now weathering to mirror surrounding tree trunks, were applied on site for the best possible views from the benches.

“You come here at the end of the day after being on the water. You watch the sun go down, and listen to the crickets and the birds. It should feel natural and restful.”

For more on Clearscapes, go to www.clearscapes.com