Hammock House

Hammock House

Client: Ocean Studies Charter School

Location: Key Largo, Florida, USA

Status: Built

Located in the protected hardwood hammock behind Ocean Studies Charter School, Hammock House is the first structure the school has been permitted to build within it. Designed to be carried in pieces along a winding 180ft trail and assembled without heavy equipment, the pavilion is light, modular, and deliberately unimposing on its landscape.

Octagonal in plan, each angled wall panel carries a unique vine-like yet structurally significant design that echoes the surrounding growth. A central oculus opens the roof to the canopy above, while a corresponding floor opening — now planted with a tree — exposes the root system below, making the forest itself the lesson. Western red cedar and FRP were selected for durability against rot, insects, and humidity.

Hammock House draws students inward and upward, framing the wilderness rather than sheltering them from it. Its success with students and faculty has earned the commission of two additional pavilions on the site. 

Completed as a part of the University of Miami Design/Build Program. For more information, click here