Sophia Hernandez, University of Architecture, Master of Architecture
Surfside Life Saving Station, more currently known as Star of the Sea Youth Hostel, was built on Surfside Beach, Nantucket, in 1874. The Life Saving Association, a task force focused on maritime activities and protection, charged Francis W. Chandler with the design and construction of a life-saving station on the southern side of the island to respond to wrecks off the adjacent shoals.
At the time of the station’s construction, Surfside beach underwent proposals for development by Surfside Land Company, which was partially owned by Henry Coffin. Surfside Beach received proposals for development several times, however, none were carried out.
Since its time as a lifesaving station, the structure and site have also been used as lodging for U.S United States Coast Guardsmen, as a radio antenna/communications station, and as a hostel, while also undergoing lengthy periods of vacancy. The station makes a great architectural example of “change over time” as it has witnessed many uses and physical alterations.
The lifesaving station can be seen as an icon of local and coastal history that contributes to the identity of place as well as to heritage. The structure has been documented twice now by PIN students: once in 1978, and again in 2006, and has also undergone a Historic Architectural Building Survey (HABS) documentation. Because of this thorough research and documentation, my study works to progress it past its technical lens so that it more tangibly represents change over time via visualization. This visualization has been done through digital reconstructing the physical iterations of the station from its construction in 1874, through four periods of significance that end to date. The past PIN projects’ contextual significance is tied with the rapid rise of tourism and reflects the increasing need to document historic architecture. Past documentation, in conjunction with my own, is significant today as structures including the station are falling into private hands, and thus access to these parts of history is becoming exclusive.
Visualizing Change represents Surfside Lifesaving Station/Star of the Sea Youth Hostel through four 3-dimensional models based on existing documentation and historic images. Paired with these models are digital renderings that contextualize the documentation of the structure, as well as portray use and occupation as a means to understand architectural modifications and the different past narratives of the building.
The intended impact of Visualizing Change is twofold:
Because the future occupation of the station (a boutique hotel) will no longer be in pure service to the island, it is my hope that the study will inform future use so that it can be considerate of both the local community as well as past identities cultivated by the hostel and lifesaving practitioners. Digital reconstruction and visualization methods can be used as a model for similar coastal structures so that these portions of history that are at risk to use driven primarily by economic gain, are accessible to the masses. This access to history not only includes technical documentation, but also visually integrates past use as a way to more tangibly understand change-over-time.
My PIN project may be taken even further in several ways:
A more detailed visualization of the interior of the structure in regard to its specific use will further our understanding of the building’s physical and intangible history. More focus can be directed towards decisions regarding material, organization of space, and the care directed towards the structure itself. And, since Surfside Lifesaving Station is of the 1874 typology, we can also broaden the lens of this analysis of change over time to include other stations. The impacts of varying contexts and locations as well as how these stations related to each other can offer an understanding of the larger coastal lifesaving environment as well as what came after it. Research might compare stations’ responses to events such as tourism, world wars, and the improvement of boating technology, or find new common threads of change.
What are we saving these structures from?
Beyond Surfside station’s current threat: private use for tourism, we are also losing many coastal structures and lifesaving stations because of climate change and sea level rise. As many intimately know, maritime architecture often acts as an icon of place- something that is highly threatened along our coastal edge.
Resources
- Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, and Historic American Buildings Survey. U.S. Lifesaving Station, Surfside, Nantucket, Nantucket County, MA. Nantucket Nantucket County Massachusetts, Photograph.
- Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Nantucket Preservation Institute, Sponsor Nantucket Historical Association, Tom Vitanza, Manarcha Kunzendorf, Mary Ellen Johnson, and Diane Talley. Star of the Sea Youth Hostel, Western Avenue, Nantucket, Nantucket County, MA. Nantucket Nantucket County Massachusetts. Translated by Mccown, Susan Mitter. Photograph.
- Claflin, James. Historic Nantucket: Surfside Life-Saving Station. Worcester, MA: Kenrick A Claflin & Son, 2008.
- “Surfside Life-Saving Station Historic Photos .” Nantuckethistory.org. Accessed July 26, 2022.
- Carr, Rita, and Nantucket Preservation Trust. “NPT Assumes Administration of 31 Western Avenue Preservation Restriction.” Nantucket Preservation Trust, January 21, 2021.
- Johnson, Mary Ellen, et al. Surfside Lifesaving Station on Nantucket Island. Nantucket, MA: Preservation Institute Nantucket, Summer 1987.
- Dessy, Adrienne et al. Historic Structure Report: Surfside Life-Saving Station/ Star of the Sea Hostel. Nantucket, MA: University of Florida Preservation Institute: Nantucket, Summer 2006.