OuroForest
OuroForest, a graphical masterplan for the reuse of an underappreciated historic timber-span structure on the Oregon coast
Role
Solo Thesis Project.
Prompt
On the heels of decades of underutilization and mismanagement, this historic WWII blimp construction and storage hangar sits empty and rotting. After receiving a call to action from the town that inherited the structure from the US government, an RFP tasked architects and students with re-imagining and picking the fate of this historic structure. While many attempts have been made to utilize the vertical space afforded to this timber tube, the structure has fallen into horrible disrepair over the last 30 years and is quickly losing function and trust within the community.
This project attempts to utilize much of the existing structure but ultimately faces the harsh reality that much of the timber structure simply cannot be saved.
This project primarily focuses on reusing the existing structural, circulatory, and historical facilities afforded to the town of Tillamook, Or. after purchasing rights to the Port of Tillamook Bay from the U.S. Government. Originally designed and used as an airship manufacturing and storage center during WWII, this space is easily adaptable to the various aerospace needs of private and governmental bodies currently expanding their work in the Pacific Northwest.
Although this site has many things going for it, there are lots of efficiency concerns related to the use of space within the historic structures. One of the main issues is finding use for the tens of thousands of vertical cubic feet within the surviving Hangar ‘B’ on the property... while many companies have attempted to use this space, it has fallen into disrepair as the current tenants have slowly opted into building their own covered storage in nearby plots of land.
