2011 Recipient | AIA Housing Awards

Blair Barn House | Notes of Interest

The Blair Barn House takes cues from classic nineteenth-century barns and updates them for the twenty-first century. Features include barn siding that allows for filtered light through a few large, strategically placed openings, a sleeping loft that creates an airy respite, and lower level bedrooms that provide cozy, down-to-earth privacy.

Two volumes- one in steel, the other in hardwood strips- have been inserted into the open, two-story “barn space” where they provide under- and over-spaces like a hayloft and granary floor. The goal was to build a modern design that is still acceptable in a rural community where families have lived for generations. The design gives a nod to farm technology and respects a farmer's common-sense approach to changing seasons and his/her respective tasks.

The Blair Barn House utilizes a geothermal heating system, passive solar/sun shading and the strategic placement of windows for reduced heat loss. A concrete thermal mass floor integrates in-floor heat. The warped west facade gives nod to the graceful, aging, grey-barn neighbor, and features great sliding porch doors. Inside, ropes and pulleys operate lights and doors. Outside, awnings of steel and cable provide for adjustable light infiltration. Locally harvested 4/4 rough-sawn white oak creates a rain screen as an exterior skin. Together with clients, the architect put together a program of creating a full-time house with three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and adequate storage. The project is 2600 gross square feet, with 1850 finished square feet.

Copyright