The front porch plays an important role in Southern architecture. It's a place to chat with neighbors, read the morning paper, enjoy an evening cocktail, listen to music. At Splinter Creek, the idea of the front porch is elevated further with the Community Porch.
Located on a point on the North Lake, the Community Porch belongs to all Splinter Creek residents. It features a fire pit, boat ties, and a covered pavilion with seating. To create the right look and feel, the Splinter Creek owners turned to Phoenix, Arizona-based firm Construction Zone.
"The concept for the porch came through several site visits with Splinter Creek's owners to gain a larger understanding for their goals for the property as a whole," says Matt Muller, a partner with the firm.
“"Many people have a front porch for their house. This is the front porch for the community." -- Matt Muller, Construction Zone
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"We start looking at the peninsula as place to have a
large fire pit," Muller says. "As we spent time on the site, paying attention to the
winds, sun and seasons, we realized the zone near the tree line was a
nice sheltered space that was a good counterpoint to fire
pit. We then developed the linear porch and positioned it
along the tree line as the ‘threshold’ from the forest walk path to the fire
pit exposed on the peninsula."
"It's place for people to gather, sit on a chair, have a cocktail, watch the sunset, sunrise, stars, grab a blanket, sit next to the fire," Muller says. "Many people have a front porch for their house. This is the front porch for the community."
