Block Island Lifesaving Station

Spring 2023

The proposal to integrate police and fire services on Block Island demands both attention and precision, touching on essential questions of safety and security, while embedding them within the routines of the community.

At UM Public Design Corps, we approach this task with measured intent, aware of the tension between the demands of design and the imperatives of function, material, and execution. Our role is not merely to design but to calibrate—ensuring that what emerges is not just operational but also accessible and equitable.

The work begins with context. Block Island’s geographic, social, and ecological specificities are not background elements but central to the task. Our engagement with the community in May 2023 yielded insights that anchor our approach. These moments of discovery— rooted in the island’s material realities—are both guideposts and constraints, shaping the boundaries of what can and should be achieved.

This report consolidates those findings and presents a framework for moving forward. It reflects a systematic engagement with the program’s challenges and the site’s demands, offering an account of the methods and considerations that inform our work. It is not a conclusion but a point of departure for what may follow.

Our efforts, while varied and methodical, represent only an initial step toward the comprehensive strategy this project demands. At its core, this undertaking challenges New Shoreham’s leaders and residents to reconsider entrenched paradigms. The task is not merely to address the future of policing and its integration with fire and rescue services but to do so within a framework that anticipates broader challenges— those of conservation, development, and climate adaptation.

This requires more than operational alignment; it calls for a deliberate approach to construction and planning that foregrounds environmental stewardship. The ecological richness and fragile beauty of Block Island, rare along the Eastern Seaboard, necessitate a focus on sustainability that is not ancillary but central. The preservation and reinforcement of the island’s natural resilience must inform every aspect of the project’s development.

This report, then, is less a conclusion than an argument: for a vision of Block Island’s future that integrates essential services without compromising its character or ecological integrity. It reflects our commitment to advancing solutions that honor both the island’s practical needs and its enduring sense of place.

Community Partners
Block Island Chamber of Commerce
New Shoreham Police Department
Block Island Conservancy
Island Free Library
The Block Island Times
Old Town Inn
Block Island Medical Center
Block Island School
Queer Block Island
Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources

Student Team

Architecture & Landscape Design:
Yifan Ma (MArch 25)

Landscape Design:
Liwen Wu (MArch 24)

Research & Fieldwork:
Mia Flynn (BS 24)
Garrett Dee (BS 24)
Margarett Laakso (BS 25)
Nicole Tooley (BS 24)
Ting Fong Chen (UT 25)
Sanjani Jismon FNU (MArch 24)
Shreya Vadrevu (MUD 24)
Caitlyn Eckberg (MArch 24)

Visualization:
Jiabao Zhu (MArch 24)

Faculty Mentor
Anya Sirota