For decades, there have been efforts to redevelop the waterfront in Newburyport, MA. This proposal provides a transition between the historical town and the Merrimack River by inserting a spa/boutique hotel, which abstracts the architectural language and materials of the town, and a public water park which acts as a gradual aquatic threshold terminating in a small public beach at the river.

The importance of the waterfront as a marina has also been captured in this scheme by taking the image of the boat lift,  seen throughout the waterfront, and creating a linear boat track, which runs along the spa and waterpark. This track would become the structure for a “boat parade” which could be a seasonal event taking place at the end of summer as boat owners use the track to bring their boats on land for storage during the winter, and then again in the spring, as the boats are brought back out to the Merrimack.