Morris Yacht & Beach Club
City Island, New York

Owner:	Morris Yacht and Beach Club
Size:	11,000 square feet
Cost:	Not Public

In March of 2006, the historic Morris Yacht & Beach Club on City Island in New York City was judged a total loss after a four-alarm fire tore through the century-old landmark building built in 1899.

Studio 5 Partnership was hired to assist the club in its post-fire recovery efforts.  We first assessed the ability to re-use portions of the fire-damaged building.  Since the foundations were beyond repair, we developed a master site plan to address problems that the club has had with boat hauling and storage operations.  With this information, the new building was placed out of the way of the boat hauling operations, while maximizing views of the Long Island Sound.  We developed a program of spaces that meet all of the needs of the club in a significantly smaller building shell than the inefficient historic building.

The building design is focused on having the ballroom, bar and decks overlook the water, while keeping the service areas as out of the way as possible.  The distinctive internally lit "lantern" element on the roof will be visible on the water at night from miles away acting as an identifiable landmark for sailing vessels.