Figure-eight pond pavilion offers quiet perch for wildlife watching
A pavilion shaped like the number eight now sits at the edge of a spring-fed pond in Chatham, a rural town in Upstate New York. The 380-square-foot (35-square-metre) structure is built as a wildlife-viewing station, a small shelter for sitting quietly and watching animals. It was designed by Desai Chia Architecture in New York City. The project was detailed by Dezeen on 20 October 2026.
The pavilion stands within an 80-acre (32-hectare) private property owned by a couple with grown children. The wider site lies in Columbia County. Desai Chia Architecture has shaped much of the property over time. Its earlier buildings there include a main house, a guest dwelling, a livestock barn and a large greenhouse.
The new structure perches on the southwest corner of the pond. That pond is spring-fed and was formerly used for agricultural purposes. The farm itself sits near the centre of the 80-acre property. The pavilion sits apart from it, right where water meets trees.
The practice positions the pavilion for north- and west-facing views across the water, according to Desai Chia Architecture. The design also catches sunlight filtered through the surrounding forest. Light shifts through the day. It is a calm place built for looking outward.
In plan, the layout seen from above, the pavilion reads as the number eight. It is composed of two platforms set at differing heights. That split creates two resting spots instead of one flat deck. Visitors can step between them to find a new angle on the pond.
The roof gives the building its character. It is a canopy formed from three intersecting, hollowed-out cylinders. Slim galvanised steel columns hold it up, using steel coated to slow rust. Curved steel beams span between them and were fitted together on site.
The canopy is clad in standing-seam panels, long metal sheets joined with raised seams. Those panels are made of 98 per cent recycled aluminium. One of the cylinders has a solid roof. It carries a PV array, a set of panels that turn sunlight into electricity, on top and a solar-powered ceiling fan underneath for warm days.
What makes this stand out is how little closes you off. There are no walls between you and the water, only the thin roof overhead. You sit low, you stay still, and the view does the rest.
