Discoveries for a Community

This thesis investigates the design of a new, private residential community on the undeveloped island, Thatch Cay, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Architectural issues explored include the use of load bearing walls versus free standing columns for the primary structure of the individual buildings as a means of ordering space and a way to frame the context of the Caribbean.

Architectural decisions involve how to make openings in the walls, how much of the walls remain, and how the remaining portions of the walls are articulated, as best suited for the specific building type, a prototype residence, in this particular setting in the tropics.