Menasha Family Room
Menasha Family Room
Menasha, WI
Menasha, WI
When Menasha's Main Street lost the 1887 First National Bank due to redevelopment, an unlikely opportunity was created across the street: A vacant parcel was negotiated as a new outdoor open space, connecting public parking to retail storefronts and the Fox River waterfront.
Small but mighty, the Menasha Family Room infuses life, color, and community into the streetscape. It draws gathering, social interaction, and dining in support of Main Street businesses.
Carved limestone artifacts, salvaged from the disassembled bank facade, are repurposed to infuse history and create unique amenities such as gateway pillars, stone "couch", and planter edging. A colorful 20-foot-long community table invites the public to dine together, and its underlit glow creates a pattern of shadow and light, animating the space at night.
Although never realized, a center piece of the design incorporates local photos from the State Historical Society collection into an art wall of framed exterior images. Captivating and sometimes quirky, the images elicit stories and function as mantle portraits of the community.
This project was completed under the tenure of Saiki Design. Photography by Shane Bernau.
When Menasha's Main Street lost the 1887 First National Bank due to redevelopment, an unlikely opportunity was created across the street: A vacant parcel was negotiated as a new outdoor open space, connecting public parking to retail storefronts and the Fox River waterfront.
Small but mighty, the Menasha Family Room infuses life, color, and community into the streetscape. It draws gathering, social interaction, and dining in support of Main Street businesses.
Carved limestone artifacts, salvaged from the disassembled bank facade, are repurposed to infuse history and create unique amenities such as gateway pillars, stone "couch", and planter edging. A colorful 20-foot-long community table invites the public to dine together, and its underlit glow creates a pattern of shadow and light, animating the space at night.
Although never realized, a center piece of the design incorporates local photos from the State Historical Society collection into an art wall of framed exterior images. Captivating and sometimes quirky, the images elicit stories and function as mantle portraits of the community.
This project was completed under the tenure of Saiki Design. Photography by Shane Bernau.
Design Concept
Design Concept
The scale and proportions of this narrow corridor inspired the design to replicate the familiar warmth and function of a family room. Literally sharing sidewalls with interior spaces, the Menasha Family Room brings the community together on the street by providing the amenities of an inviting space--moveable and built-in furniture, art on the walls, an "area rug" of specialty paving, layered lighting, and thresholds to adjacent spaces.
The scale and proportions of this narrow corridor inspired the design to replicate the familiar warmth and function of a family room. Literally sharing sidewalls with interior spaces, the Menasha Family Room brings the community together on the street by providing the amenities of an inviting space--moveable and built-in furniture, art on the walls, an "area rug" of specialty paving, layered lighting, and thresholds to adjacent spaces.
