An active winter gathering place

Through the course of 2013-2014, we collaborated with a team of dedicated design professionals and community advocates to define the intent, raise funds, and win municipal approval to construct an outdoor skating rink and pavilion on the historic grounds of Portsmouth’s Strawbery Banke Museum. Our team created a rendering that captured the vision, and presented the project to the City of Portsmouth’s Board of Adjustment, Planning Board, and Historic District Commission.

We designed the original skate rental shack and warming hut as modular elements for ease of seasonal assembly and removal. Honoring traditions at the heart of the museum, local craftsmen constructed the wooden sections from timber sourced and milled locally. Labrie Family Skate at Puddle Dock Pond now serves both as a successful new museum program and a welcome public gathering place during the winter months.

“The power of vision they created allowed potential donors to see and feel the finished product… Placework cares for the historic Seacoast environment while embracing a positive vision for our collective future.”

Larry Yerdon – President and CEO,
Strawbery Banke Museum