2020 Award of Merit

Outdoor Environments

NOMINATED BY: 

Strang, Inc.

PEOPLE/ORGANIZATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EFFORT FEATURED IN THE NOMINATION:

• Owner: Northern Sky Theater 

  • Building Committee: Mary Seeberg, Tim Stone, Dave Maier, Molly Rhode, Jeff Herbst, Craig Coursin, John Sawyer​

• Architect: Strang, Inc.

• Lead Contractor: Carlson Erickson Builders Inc.

• Landscape Designer: Jason Feldman Landscapes

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Northern Sky has a longstanding reputation as an organization providing an excellent experience. This new building adds exponentially to its cache as a professional organization. There has been a large influx of interest in Northern Sky’s intentions and now in the announcement of its 2020 season that will encompass both the outdoor venue and this new performance space. The project, while it was ongoing in the planning, money-raising, and building phases, generated huge interest and literally employed dozens, if not hundreds, of local and statewide contractors. Northern Sky also worked in tandem with local planning agencies and town/county governing organizations to rezone the property from rural to commercial use. The community is primarily resort/rural but also encompasses enough locals that the impact has reverberated in all directions toward those who both visit and reside in the area. Many patrons have expressed the pleasure of visiting such a unique venue in the county, while seeing performances by a company that they have long admired and been loyal patrons of.

​

NOTABLE SUSTAINABLE GOALS AND STRATEGIES USED:

Northern Sky has a longstanding reputation as an organization providing an excellent experience. This new building adds exponentially to its cache as a professional organization. There has been a large influx of interest in Northern Sky’s intentions and now in the announcement of its 2020 season that will encompass both the outdoor venue and this new performance space. The project, throughout the planning, money-raising, and building phases, generated huge interest and employed dozens, if not hundreds, of local and statewide contractors. Northern Sky also worked in tandem with local planning agencies and town/county governing organizations to rezone the property from rural to commercial use. The community is primarily resort/rural but also encompasses enough locals that the impact has reverberated in all directions toward those who both visit and reside here. Many patrons have expressed the pleasure of visiting such a unique venue in Door County, while seeing performances by a company that they have long admired and been loyal patrons of. This venue creates a much-needed space for the community to interact with in the winter months enticing more tourism throughout all seasons.

​

Northern Sky Theater’s existing outdoor performance space is nestled within the pine groves of Peninsula State Park in Door county. In designing a new indoor space, the desire to preserve the feeling of being integrated into the site was necessary to reinforce the performance group’s mission and unique experience. Even before the building was fully designed, a drive and parking arrangement was devised to impact the fewest number of trees on the site and work with the existing topography. The building was located with the topography in mind as well to significantly reduce the amount of earthwork required. The relatively low building height also originated from a desire to fit into the surrounding landscape.

On the inside, providing natural lighting and view to the surrounding woods creates a soothing place for rehearsals, office work and performances. All of the office spaces, conference rooms, rehearsal rooms and communal spaces have windows to the outdoors. As the performance stage is often used during rehearsals, tall narrow windows facing south toward the site’s undeveloped interior allow light and views to filter in. This same filtering is typically experienced by patrons before, during intermission and after shows. During shows, these windows can be covered by large shutters to generate the required light levels, or during winter nights, simply left wide open to the dim glow of the snowy moonlit landscape.

Materially, the building makes use of natural wood aesthetic and construction both inside and outside. Site work includes keeping many of the native plants and existing rock and complementing these elements with locally sourced site materials.

​