Brewer Hawthorne Cove Marina

After several years of design, approvals and construction, we are very excited to share some initial views of the new building BLOOM designed for Brewer Yacht Yards. The Hawthorne Cove location is a full service marina, which had previously been performing boat maintenance in the outdoor yard and in an unconditioned quonset hut. Wishing to improve the amenities and facilitate year-round work, Brewer needed a modern building. The new steel-framed building accommodates three work bays with monumental doors large enough to fit the travel-lift, which lifts the boats from the water to land and then transports them inside of the building for maintenance.

The industrial lot is on the harbor in a historic part of Salem, Massachusetts, adjacent to the House of Seven Gables, and also a residential neighborhood. Located in this sensitive area with many abutters, the building was sited where it would impact the fewest neighboring properties while still allowing efficient industrial operations in the boat yard.

The parking area stores boats on land during the winter months, and then empties to become a parking lot for cars during the boating months.

In addition to the large work bays, the new building has smaller shops for wood work and metal/engine work. These shops were designed in a separate, smaller volume which helps to break down the scale of the large building on the facades facing the residential district. The building also houses administrative offices, with sightlines to the moorings, slips, and customer areas.

The form of the large industrial building is softened by horizontal metal cladding, a pitched roof, and subdivided small-scale windows, to reduce the visual impact on the surrounding area.

The boat yard now accommodates year-round service for customers, with all of the previously disruptive repair activities now conducted indoors, creating a highly functional facility within the tight historic site.