Stowe Alpine Barn
Team: Can Vu Bui, Lane Rick in collaboration with Francesco Galetto
Renderings: Alden Studios
Stowe Vermont is known for its proximity to some of the American east
coast's best alpine ski slopes. In tandem, are the verdant hills that
surround the barn, just east of Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in
Vermont. The design for the Stowe Alpine Barn rehabilitates an existing
barn from the inside out to emphasize the connection to the abundance
of foliage that envelops the site: the existing southeast wall, is
stripped of its siding and replaced with a new louvered-shielded glass
façade. Two smaller apertures to the south create much needed views out
at the eye level. The result exposes and refocuses our attention to the
barn's original timber structure, while re-engaging a once inward Barn,
outwards to the natural beauty of Vermont.
The interior is tiered
into three levels or privacy, with bedrooms on the lowest level below
living and entertaining floors above; these levels are connected by a
new oval-shaped staircase, cavernously intimate from the inside, but as a
result leaving the remaining space open. Hand-finished plaster and
textured rift-sawn white oak, fill the new interior in a material
language that complements the existing timber structure.