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Constructed for the 1874-75 academic year and added onto three times since, Burk-Bergman Boathouse at the University of Pennsylvania presented its latest team of renovators a choice — honor the building’s heavy timber and stone legacy or introduce elements befitting the present century. Designers at EwingCole managed to do both in the form of new trusses that span the indoor rowing training space. According to principal and regional director of design Andrew Donaldson-Evans, the building could not be made any taller while still maintaining its historic commission status, so architects and engineers employed a minimalist approach of all-steel trusses that visually lighten the structure’s interior while helping preserve a sense of height over the erg room. “They are inspired by two elements: the existing historic wood trusses in the original 1874 structure and the more contemporary rigging and outriggers on the carbon fiber boats used in competition today. We treated them as a metaphor for the evolution of the sport,” Donaldson‑Evans says. “As an element of the architecture, they are a little unexpected. On the exterior, there is still a contextual expression of the boathouse form and historic details, but on the interior they offer a decidedly modern design language. These trusses let us create a large, flexible clear span for practice and hosting events with long, linear roof monitors, yet they harken to the old wooden king post trusses.”
