Tredo Engineers provided structural engineering services to HHL Architects, who, working in association with Taliesin Architects, developed Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1902 sketches for a boathouse at the University of Wisconsin into plans for a working boathouse on the Black Rock Channel (immediately south of the Peace Bridge), where Lake Erie joins the Niagara River. The building is now a functional boathouse for the West Side Rowing Club.
Frank Lloyd Wright considered his Boathouse to be one of his finest designs, so much so, that he included it in his now famous Wasmuth Portfolio in 1910 and then highlighted it again 20 years later in an international exhibit of his greatest works. The Fontana Boathouse features some of Wright’s classic design elements. Large beams run along the ceilings, naturally guiding visitors from one space to the next. Arts and crafts style lighting fixtures adorn the stairwells and are reflected in the building’s windows on the second floor.
