Koehler Kraft

Industrial Architecture

Koehler Kraft specializes in the restoration of wooden boats, which is a labor of love and appreciation of craftsmanship. The business is second generation, family owned. Seventy year old technologies are still used and interestingly, the most appropriate. For example, boats are hauled from the water on a steel rail system called a ‘way’, which uses one set of sloped rails to bring the boat out of the water, a second set to move the boat sideways in the yard, and a third set to move it forward or back into a service area. This rail system was continued into the new building, designed by Architecture, J. A. to allow a boat of 70 feet, moving in the sideways direction, into the building. The boat service area within the building is 90’ x 60’ with roof beams that clear span the long direction to eliminate the need for intermediate posts at the opening. There is an attached office area at the front of the building. It is designed to be passively conditioned, with the functional elements made of wood to promote the wooden boat theme. The office has a bank of window on its southern and eastern sides with operable wooden horizontal louvers for sun control and daylighting. The boat repair area, which faces east, utilizes a sliding door system, also made of wood, that can slide completely open for boat access, or be rotated in place to act as vertical louvers for light, sun control and ventilation.