positioned in the middle of willy ponds near strafford, new hampshire, is a diving platform designed by bulot+collins for the children of a nearby summer camp. constructed from timber, flotation barrels and 1400 thermochromic tiles of recycled HDPE, the project aims to help the kids cultivate hands-on skills while exploring creative thinking.

all images © bulot+collins
 
 
every year, an international competition is held to find an installation that will benefit the camp by its design and function, and in 2019 the iceberg by bulot+collins was selected and built in the course of three weeks by 104 campers, aged from 10 to 17. the slanted timber structure is buoyed by a series of empty barrels and the frame is covered with plywood panels (all the wood was sourced locally) on which are placed several hundred tiles of thermochromic plastic. these tiles were manufactured on-site by the campers according to an innovative process that was exclusively developed by the design team for this project.
 
 
the plastic is recycled HDPE that was melted and molded into triangular shapes, and covered with a mix of resin and thermochromic pigment. once the tiles are glued onto the structure, their glistening surface turns from different shades of blue in the cold to a polar white in the heat, so that the iceberg would appear to progressively melt under the sun. in addition to offering a stimulating sight, the responsive quality of the structure to its environment addresses in a light...