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FREE UNION ROAD RESIDENCE
Set within the Blue Ridge Mountains, this kitchen is conceived as a quiet frame to the landscape, turning daily rituals into moments of engagement with the view beyond.
LOCATION
Gloucester County, Virginia
VISUALIZATION
Miftakhova Morrell Architects
FINALIST 2025
Jori Erdman, Lemara Miftakhova Morrell, Andrew Morrell
have been awarded with the project entitled “Severn River Adaptive Lab”
YEAR
2025
TEAM
Lemara Miftakhova Morrell
Andrew Morrell
Jori Erdman
CATEGORY
Competition
Portable Laboratory and Infrastructure
The Severn River Adaptive Lab is a prototype research facility designed to respond to rising sea levels and climate uncertainty along Virginia’s coastal marshes. The project decouples architecture from infrastructure, allowing building systems to adapt independently to changing tidal conditions. Organized as a low, linear field station extending into the marsh, the lab operates as a flexible research hub that accepts flooding, submersion, and eventual ecological reclamation as part of its lifecycle.
At the center of the proposal is a system of portable laboratory pods that slide into the field station and deploy into the marsh by truck or boat. Designed to be reused, relocated, and redeployed, the pods support adaptation rather than abandonment in an evolving coastal landscape.
Portable laboratory pods slide along steel tracks embedded within the field station, carrying essential research and building infrastructure. Sized for transport by truck or boat, the pods allow researchers to deploy wet laboratories directly into the marsh and retrieve them as tides shift. By lifting critical systems above ground and decoupling them from the site, the project proposes a resilient, mobile approach to coastal research infrastructure.
Site and Massing
The field station is composed of four linear shells that extend from land into the marsh, establishing a non-obtrusive connection between terrestrial and tidal environments. Positioned just above the high-tide line, the structure frames the river while remaining open to flooding, erosion, and ecological occupation over time.
INDEX
SEVERN RIVER ADAPTIVE LABORATORY
RESIDENTIAL
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