The Remembrance Structure is a pavilion on the grounds of the Menokin Foundation in the Tidewater region of Virginia. Menokin is a former tobacco plantation and the site of the 18th century house of Francis Lightfoot Lee, one of Virginia’s signers of the Declaration of Independence.  The rural 400 acre site is located in the Northern Neck region of Virginia, close to the Chesapeake Bay, in an area of early colonial settlement. 

The Ghost Structure was commissioned by the foundation to help accommodate an increased number of school groups and visitors, to demonstrate 18th century timber framing techniques, while also acting as a literal and metaphorical platform to open conversations about the role slavery played in early colonial plantations and our nation’s past. The structure is sited directly above archaeological remains of an 18th century field slave dwelling and replicates distinctive regional colonial building techniques.

The wood framing of the Ghost Structure is left exposed and wrapped in a translucent agricultural fabric to reveal its construction details as an educational component of the structure.  The membrane protects the wood framing from the elements and provides comfortable daylight levels to the interior.  At night, solar powered interior flood lamps highlight the structure’s tectonics and the structure serves as a luminous memorial to the site’s forgotten history and inhabitants. Transparency and luminosity are concepts linked to the foundation’s mission statement. The structure was constructed on site using local materials during a five-day timber building workshop by a team of craftsmen, students, and volunteers and embodies the Menokin Foundation’s goals of promoting education in the building arts. 

Project Awards: CODAaward 2021 Merit Award, AIA NY 2020 Design Honor Award, SARA NY 2019 Design Merit Award, AIA Virginia 2018 Design Merit Award, Architizer 2018 A+ Awards Special Mention