As part of ongoing planning for the nation’s Semiquincentennial, Mills + Schnoering Architects (M+Sa) is working with Somerset County on the development of an Interpretive Center within Washington Valley Park. The project site is located in an historically and archeologically sensitive area as part of the Bridgewater Encampment historic property, which is associated with a Revolutionary War period military encampment. Washington Valley Park is one of the County’s most significant pieces of open space and is a popular destination for recreation and cultural tourism.

The Interpretive Center will include both interior and exterior gathering space, permanent restrooms, a lookout observation platform, paved paths, and limited parking. The primary building site is adjacent to a bluff overlooking a meadow immediately to the south, with a view toward Princeton and New Brunswick, where Washington’s troops observed the movement of British and Hessian troops.

M+Sa created three design options for the new Interpretive Center, each of which drew on themes derived from the site and its history and were intended to provide visitors with a variety of experiences ranging from County-wide Revolutionary War orientation; site-specific interpretive information and interactive displays; and meeting/function/rest and contemplative space. A light touch approach to the site and the incorporation of sustainable materials, water management strategies, and indigenous plants will guide the design and construction of the project.