Through major demolition, renovations, and additions, a dilapidated, mostly abandoned sardine packing plant on the Royal River in Yarmouth has become a marine-oriented commercial focus for this small coastal town.

Three buildings comprise the complex: 1) the main office building, formerly a flat roofed, two story timber-framed building which, with its added third floor of dormered offices, provides 30,000 feet of rental space; 2) the existing steel storage building, substantially renovated to accommodate a restaurant, with decks to the east and water views to the north; and 3) the yacht sales building, a new steel framed �barn� sheathed in wood, with a tall clear span volume accommodating display of large yachts.

Much of the existing footprint has been retained, thereby perpetuating the historic river�s edge enterprise. By acknowledging the existing structural systems and amplifying the timber framing system as expressed in the repetitive dormers, a sense of what had become a local landmark is maintained. With carefully chosen forms, materials, and fenestration patterns, we have presented a mixture of comfortable vernacular and particular eclecticism.

photos: Brian Vanden Brink