Prairie Island Shed

Located adjacent to the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, NC Prairie Island is full of native North Carolina plants and was created and maintained by the non-profit Extra Terrestrial Projects. The space is meant to highlight the important role local plants play in communities of the future. The area does not have a clear path through the knee deep flora and during a visit to the site it is easy to find yourself getting lost in exploration in what seems like such a small place.

This notion of encouraging visitors to explore and get lost for themselves carried on in the design of the small ‘shed’ for the site. The storage area is oriented away from the American Tobacco Trail walking path while the one of the shed walls caps the end of the site and extends an arm out toward the trail. The spiraling walls of the shed allow for shading along with tectonic rope stretching overhead to create a covering that is as outdoor, yet separated, as possible.