Design Wire September 2023
In 2018 STEPHEN COSTON and his parents built Inn on Mount Desert, a family-run guesthouse just one mile from Acadia National Park. Since then, Coston has acquired and renovated nine more inns in the Bar Harbor area. Together with BRIAN SHAW (owner of the local building company BRIAN D. SHAW, INC.) and business partners TOM AND NINA ST. GERMAIN, Coston is currently working on his 11th property: a 45-room hotel called the PATHMAKER, which should be completed by the end of the year and will feature on-site dining for 125 people. In an interview with Mainebiz, Coston explained the Pathmaker will remain open year-round, unlike most of his properties, which are marketed toward summer visitors from away. “I think recently we have been able to show people that there is no ‘bad’ time to visit Bar Harbor, and now the season is much longer than it used to be,” Coston noted.
Finnish company WOODIO is attempting to upend the bathroom industry with emission-friendly sinks, bathtubs, and toilets made from wood chips purchased as waste from local paper mills. At a factory in Helsinki, the wood chips are sifted, dried, ground, and mixed with resin and other additives before being poured into custom-designed molds that allow the nearly unbreakable material to compress while it’s injected. The sustainable bathroom equipment is finished with a food-grade, dirt-repellant, and waterproof coating that enables users to clean it with normal detergents. When it’s time to move on, the sinks, bathtubs, and toilets can be ground up and mixed with fresh wood chips to make new Woodio products with a contemporary Nordic aesthetic.
A new solar farm in Hampden will generate power for nearly 75 percent of the COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC’s 350-student campus in Bar Harbor, moving the school one step closer to its goal of becoming a fossil-free institution by 2030. College of the Atlantic has already reduced its fossil fuel usage by more than 40 percent over the past two years, following insulation and weatherization updates and the replacement of oil furnaces and water heaters with more efficient heat pump systems. The Hampden clean electricity project, a collaboration among REVISION ENERGY, WISHCAMPER COMPANIES, and TERRASMART, will also provide power to the surrounding communities of Blue Hill, Deer Isle/Stonington, and Bangor.
Downtown Bangor’s summer visitors may have noticed something colorful floating in the sky this year: a new international art installation known as the UMBRELLA SKY PROJECT debuted over Cross Street in July. Inspired by magical nanny Mary Poppins and her enchanted umbrella, the whimsical display brings color to the city while shielding pedestrians from harsh summer rays and unexpected rain showers. The DOWNTOWN BANGOR PARTNERSHIP received funding from NORTHERN LIGHT EASTERN MAINE MEDICAL CENTER to install the decorative umbrellas seasonally until 2025. Created by Portuguese company IMPACTPLAN in 2012, the Umbrella Sky Project has appeared around the world, including in London, Paris, Montreal, Miami, and Philadelphia. Bangor’s display will be the first in the U.S. Northeast.
Portland firm WRIGHT-RYAN will serve as construction manager for the TEKΑKΑPIMƏK CONTACT STATION at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Millinocket, with Norway-based SAUNDERS ARCHITECTURE at the lead and ALISBERG PARKER ARCHITECTS on board as the architect of record. Expected to open in summer 2024, the two-story, 7,896-square-foot building will be constructed from minimal steel and concrete, instead utilizing forest products and mass timber, with passive utilities including a remote solar array and a thermal-mass floor system. A collaboration among the Elliotsville Foundation, the Wabanaki Advisory Board, and the National Park Service, Tekαkαpimək will welcome visitors to the area while reflecting the peoples, natural resources, and future of the Katahdin region. In the spring, FRIENDS OF KATAHDIN WOODS AND WATERS launched A Monumental Welcome, a $35 million fundraising campaign that will support the contact station and other park projects as well as other Wabanaki-directed initiatives.
BIGELOW LABORATORY FOR OCEAN SCIENCES, a nonprofit oceanography institute located in East Boothbay, will break ground on a 25,000-square-foot ocean education and innovation center this fall with an estimated completion of spring 2025. Designed by HARRIMAN, the new facility will include designated offices for administration and business operations; teaching labs and classrooms; and a two-story, 300-seat gathering space that will allow the 120-employee organization to host events, public programs, and conferences with leading scientists. Financial support for the $30 million project comes from the HAROLD ALFOND FOUNDATION, individual and institutional donors, and federal funding.
Italian brand DE PADOVA and British fashion designer SIR PAUL SMITH recently debuted the second chapter of a collaborative home collection called EVERYDAY LIFE. The line’s latest additions include a modular indoor sofa and upholstered outdoor furniture and accessories catering to the public’s growing interest in sustainable open-air living. Visible joins in the furniture are reminiscent of Japanese cabinet making, and the colored straps on upholstered pieces are a nod to Smith’s “Signature Stripe.” Made from low-impact materials like hemp, kapok, and recycled goose feathers, the collection ranges in color from vibrant hues to earthy tones and is meant to add a touch of luxury to everyday life.
Founded in 1963 by Sonny Perkins in support of the emerging East Coast surf culture, the YORK BEACH SURF CLUB hotel reopened this summer with a fresh aesthetic that blends minimalist Scandinavian style and Maine’s traditional coastal architecture. Designed by the Perkins family’s hospitality and design group, THE SURF COMPANY, the coastal retreat’s 42 rooms and ten bungalows feature white oak headboards, Maine cedar accents, gray wood floors, and bold black fixtures, while vintage longboards and Perkins’s original photography can be found in the lobby and hallways. A fully restored vintage 1964 International Harvester milk truck houses the ROLLING PEARL, York Beach Surf Club’s raw bar and cocktail caravan. FISKE, the property’s public rooftop restaurant, offers an elevated dining experience with picturesque views of the ocean and a curved bar designed by Nashville’s MCKEITHAN DESIGN STUDIO.